


stay.

by porcelainsimplicity



Series: savor every second together. [2]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Movies), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom
Genre: Alcohol, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Disabled Character, Disabled Sex, Light Angst, M/M, Post-Film, This one will be happier than the first one I promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-09
Updated: 2014-08-30
Packaged: 2018-02-12 10:39:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2106627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/porcelainsimplicity/pseuds/porcelainsimplicity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If only I could dream we could start again</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. day one.

**Author's Note:**

> i debated for a long time about whether i would write a sequel to beautiful pain or not, and then i just decided that i had to. i couldn't just leave it where i left it. so, you can read this one on its own, i suppose, but it'll make a hell of a lot more sense if you read the first one first, which, wonderfully, many of you have done. written again because of my unending need for them to be together.

when i close my eyes i hear you singing  
you're singing me a song that i'll forget  
i always forget  
i try to take myself back to sleeping  
'cause you pick me up  
but i let you down  
your words so clear but now it's gone  
i couldn't keep my eyelids shut  
why can't you stay?  
stay...stay  
if only i could dream we could start again  
 _stay_ \- lewis watson  


Charles felt the presence on the doorstep a brief moment before the knock at the door came, and he immediately cursed under his breath. He started wheeling himself towards the entry, his mind reaching out to Hank and Alex. _I will answer the door, so neither of you worry about it._

Of course that meant that by the time he made it to the entry, both Hank and Alex were standing there, staring at him.

“I said I would answer the door,” Charles said, staring them both down. “Please leave.”

“No,” they both said at the same time.

“Charles, you never answer the door alone,” Hank said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yeah, Professor, it's weird,” Alex added.

Charles sighed as another knock came, and then that familiar voice drifted in through the slightly opened window.

“Am I going to have to let myself in again, Charles?”

Charles heard Hank's growl and glanced over to see blue fur emerging, and he just shook his head. “Alex, control Hank please.”

“How about no?” Alex said. “Magneto deserves what Hank wants to do to him.”

“No,” Charles said, shaking his head. “ _Erik_ does not. He is welcome here.”

“What?!” the two of them said at the same time again.

Before another word could be said, the lock was undone and the door opened, revealing Erik to them. He was in that ridiculous purple outfit with the matching cape that Magneto so enjoyed wearing, telepath-blocking helmet in his hands. Charles took one look at him and sighed.

“Of course you would show up here looking like that.”

Erik stepped into the mansion and Hank broke forward, and it took every ounce of Charles's concentration to freeze him in place before he could get to Erik.

“Hank, calm yourself.”

“Charles,” Hank growled. “Let me at him.”

“No,” Charles said, shaking his head. “Control yourself.”

“It's lovely to see you too, Beast,” Erik said, laughing.

“Erik, you are not helping things,” Charles said, drawing his gaze to him.

“I know,” Erik said, walking over to him. “I told you I'd come back.”

“I've been waiting,” Charles said, prompting another growl from Hank and some protest from Alex. “Ignore them. You know what you can do with the suitcase, and I'll join you in a few minutes.”

“Alright,” Erik said, putting his hand on Charles's shoulder and squeezing as he walked past.

As soon as Erik was safely up the stairs, Charles released his hold on Hank. “Calm yourself, Hank. I cannot have you turning into Beast every time you see him.”

“What the hell is he doing here?” Alex exclaimed. “Why the hell are you letting him stay?”

“I told you, he is welcome here,” Charles said, shaking his head as Hank growled again. “Hank, I am not having this conversation with you while you're blue. Control yourself.”

It took a few minutes, but eventually all the blue faded away and Hank was standing in front of Charles once more. “He's been here before, hasn't he?”

“He was here while you were visiting your parents,” Charles admitted.

“He was here four months ago?” Hank said. “Well, that explains a lot, actually.”

“Explains what?” Charles asked.

“Why things had happened that you couldn't possibly had done,” Hank said, adjusting his glasses. “You don't think I actually bought that bullshit about you having taken a dose or two of the serum without me here, did you?”

“No, I didn't, but it was better than telling you the truth,” Charles said seriously. “Now, the two of you listen to me. Erik is here, and he is welcome to stay as long as he wants. Neither one of you is going to try to harm him while he is here, or I swear to God, I will make you think you are four-year-old girls for the rest of your lives. Is that clear?”

“Professor, you can't let him stay here,” Alex said. “We're trying to reopen the school, and now we've got the biggest mutant terrorist in the world staying here? Come on, Professor, you're smarter than this.”

“Charles, Alex is right. He can't stay here,” Hank said. “Even if we were to set the fact that he's the most wanted man in America, possibly the world, to the side, and let me be very clear, I am not doing that, he's just going to disrupt all our preparations for the school. I thought you wanted it reopened as soon as possible.”

“The last time I checked, this was my house,” Charles said forcefully. “That means I decide who can reside within it. He is here until he decides to leave, and the two of you will just have to deal with it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go discover why he is here.”

Hank and Alex both started to protest again, but Charles just wheeled himself out of the entry and to the elevator, sighing when the doors closed and blocked out their voices. A short ride later, he was wheeling himself out of the elevator to find Erik standing there, his Magneto outfit gone and a blue button down shirt and gray trousers in its place.

“You should have changed into those clothes before you arrived here,” Charles said, wheeling himself towards him. “You knew you would provoke Hank in that ridiculous outfit.”

“Why do you think I wore it?” Erik asked with a laugh.

Charles just shook his head and wheeled himself down the hall. “Did you even bother putting your suitcase in your room?”

“Of course,” Erik said. “We need to keep up pretenses, even if I'm going to be in your bed every night.”

“Oh are you?” Charles asked, teasing evident in his voice. “You're rather confident.”

“Give me a reason why I shouldn't be,” Erik said, trailing after him. “You've missed me just as much as I've missed you.”

“So sure of yourself,” Charles said as he wheeled himself into his room. “Close the door behind you and lock it.”

Erik did as Charles asked and then turned back to him, watching as Charles maneuvered himself onto the bed. “You look amazing, Charles.”

“Yes, well, a shave and a haircut will do that to a person,” Charles said, looking up at Erik. “Join me?”

Erik made his way over to the bed, and after moving the wheelchair out of the way, sat down next to Charles. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Charles said, almost shyly. “I kept hoping you'd come back, but I didn't know if you would.”

“Well, I have a chess move to make,” Erik said, leaning closer. “May I kiss you?”

“You think you have to ask?” Charles murmured, reaching out and pulling Erik to him, drawing him into a kiss.

Erik brought his hand up to cup Charles's face, his other arm sliding around Charles's waist and pulling him closer. They kissed and kissed and kissed, breaking for air only to dive back in for more, until Charles broke away, laughing. 

“So we're skipping the mutual hatred this time and going straight to this, hm?”

“We never hated each other, Charles,” Erik said, smiling. “You know that.”

“I know,” Charles murmured, lying back on the bed. “So what has brought you my way this time? Last time, it was because you needed me to answer a question. What can I do for you this time?”

“I missed you,” Erik said, lying down beside him. “And I needed a safe place to hide out for awhile.”

Charles looked over at him. “What have you done?”

“I'm not going to tell you,” Erik said, shaking his head. “I didn't come here to fight with you, Charles.”

“You know I'll find out about it sometime,” Charles said. “It's better if you tell me yourself.”

“Perhaps I will before I leave,” Erik murmured. “But not now. Not while I'm finally back with you.”

“Hank and Alex are not happy you are here.”

“I don't care if they're happy. I care if you're happy.”

Charles reached out and caressed the side of Erik's face. “I'm happy.”

“Then I can deal with Beast and Havok.” Erik reached out and let his hand rest on Charles's chest. “Are you going to make me wait until tonight?”

Charles smiled. “I'm not sure I could make it until tonight.”

Erik grinned at him and moved them around so they were laying fully on the bed, then shifted his weight gently onto Charles and kissed him hard. Charles's hands came up and threaded themselves through Erik's hair, and he sighed happily as Erik started trailing kisses down his neck. 

“God, Erik, I've dreamt of this practically every night,” Charles breathed out. “I did before, but I hated it then because I thought I'd never get it again. But ever since you left, ever since you promised to come back, it's been nothing but good dreams.”

Erik pulled himself away from Charles to stare down at him. “I've wanted this too,” he murmured, bending down for another kiss. “Thought of it so often, on so many lonely nights. God, Charles, I have to have you right now.”

Charles drew him into another kiss as he reached up and started unbuttoning Erik's shirt. “Then have me.”

Erik growled before capturing Charles's lips hard, and Charles felt a shiver go down his spine as his hands slowly exposed more of Erik's skin. Charles wasn't moving fast enough for Erik, however, and Erik broke the kiss to roll off of him and start taking his clothes off. Charles laughed and started to work his own off, Erik helping him with his pants and underwear until they were both completely naked.

Erik slid on top of Charles again, and they both groaned as their rapidly hardening cocks brushed together. Erik started to nip and suck at Charles's collarbone, and Charles concentrated on putting soundproof blocks up around the room, keeping Hank and Alex from hearing what was going on within it.

Once he was sure that they wouldn't be able to hear, Charles arched as best he could into Erik's touch, letting out a long moan as skin slid against skin. Charles laughed and kissed Erik again, harder and deeper than before. 

“Need you,” Charles got out as Erik grabbed him by the hips and ground against him. “Now, Erik, please.”

Erik broke away long enough to reach for the drawer in Charles's bedside table, pleased to discover that the supplies he needed were still there. He kissed Charles again before working his way in between Charles's legs, spreading them wide. Charles smiled up at him as he fumbled with the lube, and soon Erik was working sticky, wet fingers into him.

Erik took his time preparing Charles, then expertly slicked his own dick up before sliding deep into him. Charles let out a loud groan as Erik wrapped his legs around his waist, and Erik reached up and pressed a finger to Charles's lips.

“They're going to hear you.”

“All they're hearing is classical music,” Charles breathed as Erik started to thrust. “Mozart's _Don Giovanni_.”

“Nice choice,” Erik said, leaning down and capturing Charles's lips again, increasing the speed of his thrusts. “This isn't going to last very long.”

“That's alright,” Charles said, slipping a hand in between them and stroking his cock. “We've got plenty of time for more.”

Erik pressed their foreheads together, staring down into Charles's eyes as he kept thrusting. Charles looked back at him with love in his eyes, and Erik knew there was love in his own as well. They weren't going to hide how they truly felt from each other anymore.

Charles's breathing began to get erratic, and Erik started losing control of his thrusts, and it wasn't long until they were both moaning loudly, climax hitting them at almost the same moment. Erik collapsed down onto Charles and stayed there for a few minutes, then pushed himself up, unwrapping Charles's legs from around his waist and moving off of him. Erik had barely hit the mattress next to Charles before Charles was sliding up against his side, slinging an arm across his waist and putting his head on his shoulder.

“That was...” Erik trailed off. He didn't need to find the right words. Charles already knew.

“Yeah,” Charles murmured, pressing a kiss to Erik's sweatslick shoulder. “Now will you tell me why you're here?”

“No,” Erik said. “I will tell you before I leave.”

“Oh, alright,” Charles said, letting his eyes slip closed. “Sleep. The kids are occupied with other things. Besides, the door's locked.”

“Beast would knock it down,” Erik said around a yawn. “He would lose his mind if he knew what we just did.”

“That's why he doesn't,” Charles said. “Seriously now. Sleep.”

Erik let his eyes drift closed, and it wasn't long until they were both asleep.


	2. day two.

Erik walked in to the kitchen for breakfast the next morning and was immediately met with two death glares from the far end of the table, and one cheery hello from Charles, who wasn't even looking at him. “Good morning, everyone.”

If anything, the death glares intensified after his greeting. Erik glanced from Hank to Alex to Charles back to Alex back to Hank and then sighed.

“Hank, Alex, remember what I said about four-year-old girls,” Charles said firmly, putting down his newspaper and turning his wheelchair around to smile at Erik. “Would you like some breakfast, Erik? Help yourself to whatever is in the refrigerator.”

“Thank you,” Erik said, grateful for the chance to turn away from the two glaring kids. God, even after all this time, he still thought of them as the kids.

“Did you sleep well?” Charles asked, turning back to his newspaper.

“Who cares. We should have strangled him in his sleep,” Alex murmured, yelping when the knife he'd been holding suddenly flew out of his hand and came dangerously close to his throat.

“Erik,” came Charles's voice, and the knife dropped immediately to the table. “No one is strangling anyone in their sleep. I told you, Erik is welcome to stay as long as he wants to.”

“Charles,” Hank said as Erik stuck his head in the refrigerator. “You know why he can't stay. We're harboring a fugitive.”

“They can't track me here,” Erik said, taking a couple of eggs out of the refrigerator and moving towards the stove top. “I made sure of that before I came. They think I've headed west.”

“Where did you come here from?” Charles asked.

“D.C.,” Erik answered as he found a pan and started cooking as though he belonged there. “And you won't find your answer in that newspaper.”

“I wasn't looking for it,” Charles said. “I was simply reading the paper.”

“Of course you were,” Erik said as he began to fry his eggs. He felt the death glares burning into the back of his head and sighed again. “Honestly, do you two think you're going to kill me just by staring at me?”

Alex shoved back his chair and stood up. “I refuse to be in the same room as him,” he said as he went stalking out of the kitchen. Hank sat there for a moment and then followed him, and when Erik turned around, there was only Charles at the table, an open chair next to him.

Erik took his breakfast over to the table, sitting down in the open chair and setting his food in front of him. He looked over at Charles and saw that he was sipping at a glass of scotch, and he sighed. “I thought you promised me you'd slow down the drinking.”

“I have,” Charles said. “It's a glassful, Erik. I've given up the drinking the entire bottle in less than an hour part of it. It's a slow process.”

“Alright,” Erik said, tucking into his breakfast. “They're never going to get over the fact that I'm here.”

“They will have to,” Charles said, turning to look at him. “I sincerely hope that this is not your last visit.”

“I promised you once that I would come home for good,” Erik said, polishing off the rest of his eggs. “And I still mean it, even if I don't know when.”

“And I look forward to that day,” Charles murmured. “I've looked forward to this day.”

“So have I,” Erik murmured, putting his hand on the table. “So many times in the past few months, I just wanted to say fuck it all and run back here. But there is too much left to do, so I never did.”

Charles reached out and put his hand on top of Erik's, twining their fingers together. “But you're here now.”

“But I'm here now,” Erik said, smiling. “I missed you.”

“And I missed you,” Charles said, squeezing Erik's hand lightly. “What would you like to do today?”

“Spend it with you,” Erik murmured. “And preferably away from the kids.”

“You understand why they are acting the way they are,” Charles said. “You have received quite a lot of the blame for my self-destruction.”

“I know,” Erik said. “And it's blame that I deserve. But I am not here to win them over. I am here to see you.”

“Well,” Charles said, letting go of Erik's hand and wheeling himself away from the table. “You have a chess move to make.”

Erik got a huge smile on his face as he stood and placed his plate in the sink, following Charles out of the kitchen and then to his study. He locked the door behind them as soon as they were inside, and Charles looked over at him, smiling.

“Kiss me,” Charles said plainly, and Erik could never refuse that offer.

He walked over to Charles and dropped to his knees in front of the wheelchair, carefully edging in between his legs. Charles bent down and Erik captured his lips in a sweet, sensual kiss, deepening it when Charles opened his mouth to him. When they broke apart for air, Erik started trailing kisses along Charles's jaw, and then down his neck. Charles sighed as Erik's hands came up and began to unbutton the shirt Charles was wearing, his fingers carding through Erik's hair until he felt like he had a good grip.

Erik continued to kiss Charles's skin, ghosting his lips across exposed collarbone, as he unbuttoned the shirt. Once it was open, he broke away long enough to help Charles take it off, tossing the shirt somewhere behind him. Charles's fingers found their place in Erik's hair again as Erik kissed down the front of his chest, making his way over to his left nipple. Erik teased the hard nub, teeth grazing it, lips sucking it, until Charles's breath was hitching. He smiled against Charles's skin and moved over to the right nipple, giving it the same treatment.

And then Charles moaned, but the sound didn't reach Erik's ears, it echoed inside his head. It reminded him of old times, back before everything had changed, when they were in a small room at the Division X headquarters, and Charles had been worried about everyone hearing them, so he'd kept his moans and groans and litany of words trapped inside Erik's mind. And it had turned Erik on so much that they'd nearly broken the small bed with how hard he fucked Charles into it, hearing every little gasp and knowing that no one else could. Those were sounds for him to treasure, him alone, and he still did, even after all these years.

 _Charles,_ Erik thought, and he was rewarded with a pleasing moan as his hands dropped to Charles's pants, one hand drifting down and palming him through the cotton and polyester barriers that separated him from what he wanted. _Tell me what you want._

Charles's breath was coming in short gasps, and he tried to suck in a deep breath or two. _You. I just want you. Somehow, any way, whatever we are capable of doing, I want it._

It took all of Erik's self-control not to just pull Charles out of that wheelchair and onto the floor, tear off Charles's pants and his own clothes, and fuck him into the floor. No, they couldn't do that, they didn't have the supplies. But he could do something about the erection he was still palming, and he smiled into Charles's skin again.

His hands worked Charles's pants open, sliding them down enough to make his cock spring out. Erik slowly trailed a finger along its length, listening to Charles's breath hitch again. He added a second finger and just ran them slowly up and down, moving from side to side, as Erik looked up at Charles with hooded eyes.

“Shall I?”

“Yes,” Charles breathed out, so quiet that Erik wouldn't have caught it if he hadn't been listening for it.

Erik grinned and leaned forward, licking up the bead of moisture on the tip before closing his mouth around the head, sucking gently. He heard the _oh fuck Erik_ go through his head and slowly made his way down, opening up his throat and taking Charles's cock in to the hilt, his nose buried in dark curls. Slowly he moved back up, and then down again, and soon he had a rhythm going, grazing lightly with his teeth, running his tongue all over the silky steeled skin. Charles's hands soon tightened in his hair, and Erik kept up a steady, even pressure, swallowing him whole as come began to splash the back of his throat, _fuck, Erik, fuck, fuck, fuck, love you, fuck_ echoing through his head. 

Erik eventually pulled away, careful of Charles's sensitive flesh, and then he grinned up at him. “Good?”

“Amazing,” Charles said softly, letting his hands drop from Erik's hair to his shoulders. “Let me return the favor?”

“How?” Erik asked, knowing Charles would understand what he meant.

 _Fuck me,_ echoed through his mind. _Put me on the floor and then fuck me through it._

He stared up at Charles for a moment before running his hand through his hair. “Supplies?” he asked softly, hoping that no one was listening on the other side of the door.

“Same drawer in my desk as the scotch,” Charles said softly, and Erik was scrambling off his knees and making his way to the desk before he had a second thought. He found what was needed and made his way back to Charles, dropping the lube to the floor as Charles reached out his arms to him. 

Erik quickly lifted Charles out of the wheelchair and carried him over to the rug in front of the chess board, laying him down carefully. Erik lunged and grabbed the lube, setting it close, then stretched out and shifted his weight onto Charles, gazing down at him. “Soundproof?”

“Already did,” Charles said. “A selection of Beethoven's sonatas.”

“Mmm,” Erik said, staring down at him. “Nice choice.”

Charles laughed and lifted his head up, kissing him slowly. Erik deepened the kiss, and their tongues met leisurely, lazily, as if they had all the time in the world. Erik slowly pressed his hips down against Charles's and he felt the groan in the kiss. Erik was harder than a rock, his erection almost painfully pushing against the restraint of his trousers, and he knew that he needed to get his clothes off as soon as possible. But first, Charles's pants were still in the way, and those needed to go too.

Charles groaned when Erik broke the kiss, carefully nudging Charles's legs apart and then settling between them. Erik pulled at Charles's pants, helping him to lift up his hips to slide them down and then Erik worked them the rest of the way off. Charles's hands were at the buttons of his shirt before Erik could say a thing, and as Charles worked at the bottom buttons, Erik worked at the top, until they met in the middle and his shirt hung open. Erik quickly whipped it off and reached for his trousers, standing up and quickly taking them off before throwing them behind him and dropping back to his place between Charles's legs, both of them fully naked.

“I'm going to go slow,” Erik murmured, reaching over for the lube. “I know I hurt you yesterday.”

“You didn't,” Charles said, shaking his head. “I would have told you if you did.”

“I don't believe you.”

“You should,” Charles murmured. “You've never hurt me, Erik. Not during sex.”

Erik ignored the voice in his head that was telling him that he'd hurt Charles in other ways, in deeper ways, in ways that were so much more important than a little bit of pain during sex. He spread Charles's legs wider and then skimmed fingertips along the inside of Charles's thighs as he got the cap of the lube off. He poured some of the sticky liquid onto his fingers, and slowly pressed the tip of one finger in. 

Charles sighed, opening up for him. He was tight, his body unused to the invasion, but as Erik added a second finger, Charles's body started to remember that it had done this before, it had done this the day before, and opened up readily. He pushed his fingers in and out, crooking them at just the right place to get Charles to cry out his name. He bent down and pressed a kiss to Charles's cock, knowing from experience that it probably wouldn't get hard again during sex, that it would be another couple of hours before he'd be able to bring Charles off physically again. But as for the rest of him? He was going to have Charles lost in pleasure for as long as he could stand it.

When he decided Charles was ready for him, he lifted lifeless legs and spread them as far apart as he could get them, lined himself up, and slowly pushed.

Charles let a litany of curse words flow through Erik's mind, and Erik couldn't stop the smile from crossing his face. When Erik was all the way inside, he heard _Erik, missed this_ in his head, and he bent down to press a kiss to Charles's mouth. 

“I missed this too,” he whispered against Charles's mouth, pulling back and sliding in again, slowly at first and then faster, harder. He had, after all, been instructed to fuck Charles through the floor.

Charles's eyes glazed over with lust, unfocused and blurry with desire. He tried to lift his hips to meet Erik's thrusts, moaning in frustration when he remembered that he couldn't, cursed Erik once again for the fact that he was so helpless now, cursed Erik even more for the fact that this was still somehow so good. He kept up a steady pace of words flowing into Erik's mind - _fuckyes, please, harder, Erik, more, fuck, so good, amazing, fuck, harder, I'm not porcelain, fuckfuckfuck, Erik, please_ \- not just because he knew they fueled Erik's arousal, but because they fueled his own. And while his cock might not be aching for attention, the rest of his body was being torn apart by the pleasure of it all, edging closer and closer to complete and total bliss.

Erik could feel the ratcheting up of the pressure, the building crest of it, and it was only a few more thrusts before he pressed his lips sloppily against Charles's, both of them going through wave after wave of undeniable pleasure as Erik spilled himself inside of Charles. He collapsed onto Charles, and Charles's arms came up to wrap around him, lips brushing against his temple. 

They stayed that way for a long time while they both regained their ability to breathe, and then Erik carefully moved himself away, collapsing to the floor next to Charles. “Fuck,” he murmured, wiping sweat-drenched hair off his forehead. “So fucking good, Charles.”

“Mmm hmm,” Charles hummed, reaching out to grasp Erik's hand with his own. “So glad I asked you to kiss me. So glad you're here.”

They both jumped at the sound of a knock on the door. “Charles?” came Hank's voice. “Those contractors are here to start in on the shower rooms you wanted. Just wanted you to know that they showed up on time.”

“Thank you, Hank,” Charles called out, looking over at Erik with a smile. “I decided the bathroom and shower situation needed to change for the students.”

“So you're really reopening the school then?”

“Yes, hopefully by the start of next semester.”

Erik smiled at him before leaning over for a slow, languid kiss. “Good,” he murmured when they broke apart. “You need something to occupy you besides alcohol.”

“I told you I've slowed up.”

“And yet you were still having scotch for breakfast,” Erik said, sighing. “I know it's not easy to give up cold turkey, but I know you come from a long line of alcoholics, Charles, and I don't want you to end up like them.”

“Trust me,” Charles said, squeezing Erik's hand. “I am not turning into them.”

Erik nodded, squeezing Charles's hand back. “I trust you.”

“We should get cleaned up and dressed,” Charles said. “I'll probably be needed at some point.”

“Of course,” Erik said, starting to get up and stopping when he felt Charles pulling him back down. “Charles.”

“One more kiss?”

Erik grinned and leaned over Charles, capturing his lips in a kiss that left them both with a simmering ache inside. “For later,” he whispered, then got up and started looking around the room for their clothes.

Charles just let his head drop back to the floor, forcing himself to breathe.

Erik Lehnsherr really was going to be the death of him. 

And he wouldn't have it any other way.


	3. day three.

“Charles?”

Charles looked up from his desk and saw Hank standing in the doorway to his office. “Yes, Hank?”

“I have something I'd like to show you,” Hank said, his hands fidgeting nervously with the papers in his hand. “While you're alone.”

Charles nodded and Hank came into the study, closing the door behind him. “I've been monitoring various media downstairs ever since Magneto ended up here.”

“Erik,” Charles corrected.

“Like I said, ever since Magneto got here,” Hank said, walking over to the desk and handing the papers to Charles. “I think this is why he's hiding here.”

Charles took the papers and looked at them. “Hank, how did you get newspaper clippings from D.C.?”

“I subscribe to the papers there,” Hank said, looking nervous. “I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but I recognized the address.”

Charles glanced through the clipping, and suddenly it hit him. “That's Peter's address.”

“Exactly,” Hank said. “I know he's a kleptomaniac, but I don't think that stealing some doughnuts from a convenience store would require the FBI and CIA to surround his house.”

“Peter probably got him out of there,” Charles mused. “No one would have noticed.”

“I called the house and asked for Peter,” Hank said. “Apparently Peter hasn't been home ever since the day before Magneto showed up here. Marya, that's the woman we met at the door, is very worried about him.”

Charles set the clippings down on his desk and smiled at Hank. “Thank you, Hank. I'll take care of this.”

Hank nodded and made his way to the door, startling himself when he opened it to find Erik standing there, ready to open the door himself. “Erik! I, um, I was just leaving.”

Hank squeezed himself between the door frame and Erik, and quickly got the hell out of there, much to Erik's amusement. 

“Are they ever going to realize that I'm not here to harm them?”

“Shut the door,” Charles said, reaching into his desk drawer for the scotch. “Get us some glasses.”

Erik shut the door and walked over to the bookshelf, pulling down two books and grabbing the glasses behind them. “Still secretly drinking in your study.”

“Not exactly secretly,” Charles said, nodding in thanks as Erik set the glasses in front of them. He poured them each a glass and then slid one across the desk to Erik. “Drink up.”

Erik picked up his glass and they both downed them in one sip. “Ah, I love this scotch. Now that I know what kind it is, I always seek it out in liquor stores. It's ridiculous, but it makes me feel like I've got a little part of you with me.”

Charles sighed and poured himself another one, quickly knocking it back. “Why did you go to Peter's house?” he asked before this got any more sentimental.

“How do you know about that?” Erik asked, his voice suddenly defensive.

“Hank found it in some newspapers,” Charles said, picking up the clippings. “He recognized Peter's address. It wasn't hard to figure out what happened from there.”

“He's intriguing,” Erik said, reaching for the bottle and pouring himself another glass. “He's a good mutant to have on your side.”

“He's a kid,” Charles murmured.

“Didn't stop you from using him, now did it?”

“We had to get you out of there,” Charles said, reaching for the scotch again. “Logan presented Peter as a solution to our problem. In the greater scheme of things, using one kid to save the lives of millions of future children didn't seem so bad.”

“So why do you have a problem with me doing it?” Erik asked, sipping at his glass. “Or at least inquiring.”

“You'll have to excuse me for wanting a better life for Peter than being constantly on the run with you,” Charles said. “I was going to recruit him for the school. Now he's already on the run.”

“What do you mean?” 

“Hank called his house. Marya told him that Peter hasn't been home since the day before you showed up here,” Charles sighed. “I'm going to have to use Cerebro and try and find him. If I can't convince him to come home, maybe I could convince him to come here. I know the school isn't ready to be opened yet, but I suppose we could take in a student before then.”

Erik polished off his glass and set it down. “You don't need to use Cerebro to find him,” he said, his eyes not meeting Charles's. “He's in a hotel near here. He was too afraid to go home after the deluge of FBI and CIA agents surrounding it. He helped me leave clues that I was heading west, and then we came here. I didn't know how you would react to Peter being with me, so I got him a hotel. He's been coming here at night, when I go for my nightly jog. He's wanted to come inside, probably has actually. He liked you guys. He's still a little afraid of me.”

“You're not telling me something,” Charles said, staring at Erik. “What are you not telling me?”

“I'm not ready to,” Erik said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I promise you, I will tell you before I leave.”

“Erik.”

“Charles, please,” Erik said. “Let me tell you when I'm ready.”

Charles nodded. “I will. And that's not what I was about to say.”

“What were you about to say?”

“I want you to tell me where Peter is, so I can send Hank to go get him,” Charles said, reaching for a notepad and a pen. “He'll be safer here than he would be in a hotel.”

Erik nodded and scribbled down the address on the notepad once Charles had given it to him. “He's there.”

“Thank you,” Charles said. _Hank, could you come here please? I need you to do something for me._

A minute hadn't passed by the time the study door was opening, Hank and Alex walking inside.

“Do we get to kick him out?” Alex asked, rubbing his hands together. “Please tell me we get to kick him out.”

“No one is being kicked out,” Charles said firmly. “Hank, I need you to go this address and collect Peter please.”

Hank walked over to the desk and took the paper from Charles's hand. “What if he doesn't want to come with me?”

“Tell him I'm here,” Erik said. “Tell him it's alright.”

Hank sighed at that and turned around, heading towards the door.

“Oh and Hank?” Charles said, waiting until he had turned towards him to continue. “Take Alex with you. I think he needs to be occupied for awhile.”

Hank nodded and grabbed Alex by the elbow, pulling him out of the study and closing the door. Charles waited a few minutes, then moved around the desk to the chair where Erik was sitting. They heard a car start, and Charles smiled at Erik. 

“It probably won't take them very long to get Peter, but while they do,” Charles said, reaching out and trailing a hand down the front of Erik's shirt. “I don't think we can have sex, but we can at least make out a little.”

Erik took Charles's hand in his and kissed it softly. “It'll be too noticeable,” he murmured. “Not that I wouldn't love to, because I would, but you know Hank. He'd notice the second he got back that your lips would be swollen from my kiss. I don't kiss you softly, Charles. I kiss you so hard your lips are bruised.”

“Mmm, I know,” Charles said, his eyes darkening with arousal. “But I suppose you are right.”

“I know I am,” Erik said, reaching out to caress the side of Charles's face. “What are you going to do with Peter once he gets here?”

“First, I'm going to call Marya and let her know that he is alright. Then I'm going to get him set up in a room, and probably talk to him about the school, see if he wants to be a student.”

Erik nodded. “And what are you going to do if he says he wants to stay with me?”

“Then I am going to tell you that if you let a hair on his head be harmed, I am going to make you think you're a kitten for the rest of your life.”

Erik laughed. “Helmet, Charles.”

“Do you really think I will never figure out a way around that?”

“Emma told me there wasn't one,” Erik said seriously. “I figured she would know, since she was with Shaw when he got it.”

“Who made him that helmet anyway?”

“The Russians,” Erik said. “And I have no idea what's in it that blocks telepaths, so don't ask.”

Charles sighed and wheeled himself to the door. “Come on, let's go find a room for Peter. You can put the linens on the bed.”

Erik stood up and followed him, thankful that Charles wasn't reading his mind. The last thing he wanted to do was confess to Charles that Peter was his son when he hadn't even told Peter that yet.


	4. day four.

Peter was not an idiot. He'd sat there listening to Charles for as long as he could stand it before beginning to explore the office while Charles continued to talk. But while he'd been exploring the office, he'd also been looking at Magneto.

Well, more specifically, at how Magneto looked at Charles.

And Peter knew he wasn't mistaken, either, when he decided that Charles looked at Magneto in exactly the same way.

He'd already decided there was some serious back story to them after that meeting in the elevator at the Pentagon where he was certain the two of them forgot everyone else on the planet existed while their eyes were locked on each other. And now he knew what it was.

He may be a sixteen-year-old kid, but he knew the look of love when he saw it.

Magneto and Charles were in love with each other.

That explained _so_ much.

“So that's my vision for the school,” Charles was saying. “What do you think, Peter?”

“Sounds great,” Peter said, even though he hadn't heard a word of it. “Promise me I never have to see another FBI or CIA agent and sign me up.”

“I cannot promise you that,” Charles said seriously. “I do not know how the government would react if they knew about the school and the training that we do here. However, I will do everything I am capable of to make sure you don't ever see an FBI or CIA agent again.”

“Does that involve banning Magneto from the building?” Peter asked, testing his theory. “Because he seems to attract a lot of FBI and CIA agents wherever he goes.”

“No, Peter. Erik is not going to be banned from this house. Not now and not ever.”

Oh, so Magneto was _Erik_. He was _so_ right about this.

“Do I get to call you Erik?” Peter asked, suddenly standing in front of Magneto. “Because Erik is a much better name than Magneto, you know. 'Cause it's like an actual name.”

Erik exchanged glances with Charles before nodding. “Yes, Peter, you can call me Erik if you're more comfortable with that.”

“Good.” Peter went back to the bookshelf and started admiring the books. “So when does school start?”

“At the beginning of next semester, hopefully,” Charles said. “However, if you would like to stay here in the meantime, I'm sure that Hank and Alex would appreciate your help in getting the school ready.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Peter said, looking around. “It's not like I can go home. Fairly certain I'm a fugitive now, just like Erik.”

Charles gave Erik a look at that, and all Erik could do was shrug his shoulders. “I just asked him to get me out of there. I didn't expect him to come all the way here with me.”

“Oh please, you loved the fact that I got you here so fast,” Peter said. “You thanked me so much.”

Charles laughed at that, and this time Erik shot him a look. 

“Can I call Marya?” Peter said out of nowhere. “Like, she's probably worried sick about me. And Wanda too. She was pretty freaked out by all the people surrounding the house.”

“Of course you can,” Charles said, wheeling himself out from behind his desk. _Alex, could you come here please?_

The door to Charles's office opened a few seconds later, and Charles took one look at Hank and Alex before shaking his head. “You two are supposed to be working on the school.”

“So are you,” Hank said, glaring at Erik. 

“I've been recruiting a student,” Charles sighed. “Alex, would you please show Peter to the telephone? He would like to make a phone call. And then would the two of you please get back to work on the school instead of just standing outside my study waiting for something that's not going to happen?”

Hank turned around and left, muttering something about harboring fugitives, while Alex shot Peter a smile. “Come on, phone's this way.”

Peter glanced at Charles and Erik before following Alex out of the study. As soon as they were in the hallway, the study door swung shut on its own, and Charles grinned when he heard the lock slide into place.

“Planning something, Mr. Lehnsherr?”

“Perhaps, Mr. Xavier,” Erik said, smiling at him. “But first we should talk about Peter.”

Charles sighed but nodded. “Do you think he really wants to be here?”

“He's had every chance to go back home,” Erik said. “It's not like I had him tied down in that hotel room.”

Charles waited a moment, and then broke into a filthy grin. “I hope I'm the only thing you've ever had tied down in a hotel room.”

Erik groaned, the memory of that particular trip coming immediately to mind. “We may have to reenact that,” he said softly. “Fucking hell, Charles.”

“What's the matter?” Charles asked, laughing.

“You, you lousy bastard. You're making me feel my memory. Like actually physically feel my memory, and it is doing its best to arouse me.”

Charles just grinned. “I know.”

“Motherfucker,” Erik groaned out, shifting around in his seat as his trousers suddenly became too tight. “Charles. Stop.”

“Come here,” Charles said, his voice filled with arousal. “Erik, come here.”

Erik stood up and made his way over to Charles, yelping when Charles grabbed him by the hips and settled him against the desk. “Charles.”

“Do you want me to suck you off or not?”

Erik just nodded and Charles worked at the fly of his trousers, smiling when it came open and he could reach inside. Erik's cock was fully hard and flushed red, leaking a little bit at the top, and Charles just took in the sight of it, remembering the first time he'd ever seen it, the first time he'd ever touched it. He glanced up at Erik and saw him staring back at him with wide eyes, and he sent the memories to Erik, who gasped as they filled his head.

“Soundproof,” Erik barely got out before Charles's hand stroked him slowly from base to tip. “Charles, soundproof.”

Charles let his eyes close for a brief moment and then reopened them. “Done. Ravel's _Gaspard de la nuit_.”

“Ravel?” Erik breathed. “You never knew Ravel before.”

“I've learned a lot of composers that I didn't know before,” Charles said, slowly letting his hand stroke Erik's cock. “But I must be doing something wrong, because you're still coherent.”

Charles reached out and flicked the tip of Erik's cock with his other hand, smiling when another bead of moisture appeared there. He leaned forward and licked it up, smiling when he heard Erik groan above him. Erik's hands came to rest on his head as Charles started in on a bunch of little licks around the head of Erik's cock, his hand still slowly stroking it.

Erik growled as Charles closed his lips around the head, sucking gently. “Fucking hell, Charles.”

Charles just looked up at him, and the sight of Charles with Erik's dick in his mouth was almost enough to make Erik come right then and there. But then Charles slid more of Erik's cock into his mouth, and Erik felt his eyes roll back in his head.

Charles Xavier had one hell of a talented mouth.

Charles let his teeth lightly graze Erik's skin as he pulled back up, making Erik hiss from the mixture of pain and pleasure. Charles started humming as he worked his way back down, and Erik's hips bucked forward, making Charles reach out with his hands and pin him to the desk. Charles worked his way up and down Erik's cock, tongue swirling, teeth grazing, until Erik was panting above him, begging Charles for release.

Charles let Erik's cock fall from between his lips and he bent lower, sucking on one ball then the other, and Erik made a noise that Charles had never heard before, and he quickly filed it away in his mind so he could relive it late at night when Erik was gone and Charles needed to get off. He licked his way back up to the head, wrapping his lips around it again. Erik tried to force Charles to take him deeper, but Charles let go of Erik's hips and grabbed his wrists instead. He forced Erik's wrists to his hips, and then used Erik's hands to hold himself in place while Charles began to suck him in earnest.

“Oh God, fuck, yes, Charles, god, fuck, mein gott...” Erik trailed off into a stream of German after that, and Charles felt his own cock harden instantly.

Nothing turned Charles on quite like making Erik so incoherent he started speaking German during sex.

He heard the familiar hitch of Erik's breath and slid his lips all the way down, letting his eyes close when he felt the first splash of come against his throat. He let Erik ride out the waves before pulling away and looking up at Erik, delighting in the way his face looked contorted in pleasure. 

“So was that good for you?” Charles asked, his voice not letting on how fucking aroused he was, and he grinned when Erik's eyes snapped open.

Erik growled and shoved himself away from the desk, leaning down to kiss Charles hard. Charles responded eagerly to the kiss, sighing happily when Erik pushed the wheelchair back and sank to his knees in front of him. Erik took one look at how Charles was filling out his trousers before grinning maniacally, his hands quickly getting them open and pulling Charles's cock free.

Erik didn't waste any time teasing him, just took Charles's cock all the way down to the base, and Charles shuddered and groaned. Erik set a fast pace, tongue swirling, teeth grazing, even nipping slightly at the tip as he lapped up the leaking moisture there. Charles wasn't saying a word, not even mentally, and the only thing that Erik could judge his level of arousal by was Charles's breathing. It got progressively shallower until Charles was gasping in breaths, and then Charles's hands came up to Erik's head, grasping it firmly as Erik took him down to the root right before Charles started to come. Erik sucked him dry and swallowed it all before letting Charles's cock go, looking up at Charles's flushed face.

“So was that good for you?” Erik echoed, and they both started laughing, leaning towards each other for a sloppy kiss.

Outside the study, leaning against the door, Peter was blinking rapidly and telling himself that the next time he found the door to Charles's study locked, he should totally leave it that way instead of picking the lock like he'd just done.

Also, he was _so so_ right.


	5. day five.

“Erik, can I ask you a question?”

The screwdriver that Erik was playing with came to a stop, and he looked over at Peter, laughing when he noticed the bookshelf he'd been putting together was finished, but finished incorrectly. “You might want to disassemble that so someone can put it together correctly.”

Peter took one look at it and then before Erik could even blink, all of the pieces were in a pile on the floor once more. “Seriously, Erik, can I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” Erik said, turning his attention back to the screwdriver.

“Can I trust Charles?”

The screwdriver fell to the floor as Erik turned to look at Peter. “What makes you think that you can't?”

Peter just rolled his eyes. “The guy had me break you out of the Pentagon. Not exactly the most trustworthy thing, you know? Like how do I know he really means what he says?”

“How do you know you can trust me?”

“It's ridiculous,” Peter said, sitting down. “It's probably not even true. I just do, okay?”

“What's not even true?” Peter was sitting still, which Erik had learned meant that Peter was being serious, so he sat down next to Peter and put his hand on his shoulder. “I would trust Charles with my life. So yes, you can trust him.”

“What's the deal with you two anyway?” Peter asked, grateful for the change of subject. “Like, you're supposed to hate each other, but you definitely don't hate each other.”

Erik sighed. “Who told you that Charles and I are supposed to hate each other?”

“The same people who told him about Cuba,” came Charles's voice, and they both turned to see Charles in the doorway. “Hank and Alex thought it would be a good idea to turn him against you.”

“Of course they did.”

“It didn't work,” Peter said, his eyes wide. “You lifted a submarine out of the freaking ocean while you were clinging to the wheels of a jet? That's so freaking cool, man. I mean, the stadium was terrifying, especially with your little 'hey mutants, let's take over the world' speech, but the submarine sounds so cool.”

“Yes, Erik could do amazing things should he decide to do them for good,” Charles said, prompting an angry reply from Erik.

“I do use them for good. Just because you don't agree with it doesn't mean it isn't for good. And it's better than sitting in a mansion doing nothing.” He heard a sharp inhale of breath, and Erik couldn't even bring himself look over at the man in the wheelchair. “Charles.”

“No,” Charles said, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice and failing. “You're right. All I do is sit in a mansion and do nothing. That's why I broke you out of prison. That's why we went to Paris to stop Raven. That's why I was there at the White House that day. Because I sit in a mansion and do nothing.”

Charles wheeled himself away from the room and Peter looked over at Erik. “You better go after him.”

“Why?” Erik said, emotionless. “I'm supposed to hate him, aren't I?”

“But you don't,” Peter said, slowly as if talking to a small child. “You don't hate him, and if you don't want him to hate you, you better go after him.”

Erik sighed and stood up, glancing down at Peter. “Don't try putting that shelf together again, alright? Wait till I come back and I'll help you do it.”

Peter just nodded and Erik walked out of the room. He knew where Charles would be, so he bypassed the study and headed up the stairs. Just as he suspected, Charles was in Erik's room, and Erik walked in, closing and locking the door behind him. 

“I'm sorry,” Erik said, walking over to where Charles was sitting on the bed. “That came out wrong.”

“No it didn't,” Charles said, reaching towards one of the pillows and hugging it close. “You need to sleep in here while you're here. The pillows don't smell like you anymore.”

Erik sat down next to Charles. “I'm trying to apologize.”

“I know you are. But I know you're not sorry. So I'm not listening.” Charles handed the pillow to Erik and reached for the other one. “Make it smell like you.”

“Charles,” Erik said, putting the pillow in his lap. “Would you please listen to me?”

“You're right. You tried to do things to help mutants, you tried to save the president from being assassinated. I hid in my house for a decade feeling sorry for myself. Yes, the school was open part of that time, but what good did that do? Everyone left. I don't know if I'm going to have any other students besides Peter or teachers beyond Hank and Alex. I'm not sure that reopening the school is even a good idea.”

“Everyone left because of Vietnam,” Erik said, putting a hand on Charles's knee. “And I got myself locked up for a decade. I'd hardly call that doing things to help mutants. The school is a great idea, Charles. I knew it would be from the moment we first sat in that study of yours and talked about it over chess. You need to reopen it. It'll help make the world a better place.”

“You should see them, Erik,” Charles murmured. “There's so many of them, more every time I use Cerebro. I don't know how I can help them all.”

“You can't,” Erik said, moving closer to Charles. “But what you can do, the mutants you can reach, that's still important. And no matter how much you dislike my methods, every time that I can help a mutant, I try to.”

“I don't want to fail anyone again,” Charles said quietly. “All I can think about is how many mutants I've failed, how many I've abandoned.”

“You can't do that, Charles,” Erik said, wrapping an arm around Charles's waist. “All we can do now is help the mutants that we can.”

“I wish you'd stay here with me,” Charles practically whispered. “I need your help in this, Erik. I always have. I can't do it on my own.”

“I think if we learned anything from Logan, it's that you can do this on your own,” Erik said, pulling Charles to him. “You told me about all your conversations with him. You told me what you talked about with him. You have mutants to find with Cerebro. Mutants that will be very, very important to you in the future. And I have mutants to find as well. Ones that will be very, very important to me. And we may be on the opposite sides of future conflicts, and there may be some that bring us back together. But I promise you, Charles. I will come home for good some day. And you know how seriously I take my promises.”

“You killed a lot of innocent men in order to fulfill one of your promises,” Charles murmured.

“I killed a lot of Nazis in order to fulfill one of my promises,” Erik stressed. “And no Nazi in my eyes is innocent.”

Charles sighed and put his head on Erik's shoulder. “I wish we could do Cuba over again, but better this time. I'd understand why you had to kill Shaw. You wouldn't be so hellbent on killing the humans in their warships; you'd just keep the bombs from reaching the shore. Moira wouldn't feel the need to try and shoot you, so I'd never end up with a bullet in my spine. And then, when you asked me to be by your side, I'd say yes. Because this is how we belong, Erik. By each other's sides.”

“I know,” Erik said softly. “I wish we could do Cuba all over again too. I'd never leave you lying there on the beach injured. I'd stay by your side. But we can't change the past, Charles. We have no one to send us back in time the way Logan did.”

Charles let out a soft laugh. “Her name is Kitty. Kitty Pryde. Shadowcat. She can walk through walls. I can't wait to meet her.”

“If you don't reopen the school, then you probably never will.”

“I know,” Charles sighed. “And I'm going to. I just think it would be better with you here.”

“And I think the things I do would be better with you there. But it's not the way it is, and it's not the way it's going to be. Not yet.”

Charles let his eyes drift closed. “I hope it doesn't take as long as Logan said it did in that future. I don't want to wait until I'm nearly dead to finally have you to myself again.”

“I'll try to make sure you don't have to,” Erik murmured. “But I cannot guarantee anything.”

“I know,” Charles breathed out. “I know.”

Erik turned and pressed a kiss to Charles's forehead. “If you want, we can sleep in here tonight. Then the pillows will smell like me again.”

Charles smiled. “That sounds good. Just make sure you lock the door to my room so no one can go in there.”

“I will, don't worry.” Erik ran his hand up Charles's side, feeling him shudder against him. “I promised Peter I'd help assemble a bookshelf.”

“You have an attachment to him. I wish you'd tell me what it was.”

“He broke me out.”

“No, that's not it,” Charles said, shaking his head.

Erik sighed. “I'll tell you before I leave. I promise.”

“Then I will wait,” Charles said, sitting up. “I should go check on Hank and Alex. I do feel bad that they're having to do most of the work because I can't.”

“You're finding and recruiting students. I'd hardly call that not doing any work.”

“I meant physical work.”

“I know what you meant,” Erik said, standing up. “Do you want help getting into your wheelchair?”

“No,” Charles said, shaking his head. “I can do it myself.”

“Then I will go help Peter with the bookshelf,” Erik said, bending down to kiss Charles softly. “I'll see you later.”

Charles grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into another kiss. “I'll come check on the bookshelf soon.”

Erik smiled as Charles let go of his shirt. “I can't wait.”

Charles smiled back as Erik turned and left the room, taking a deep breath once he was gone. “Maybe later you can tell me why Peter thinks you're his father,” he whispered to the room before shaking his head and reaching for his wheelchair. “Maybe later I'll actually have the courage to ask you.”


	6. day six.

When Charles came down for breakfast the next morning, the only person in the kitchen was Peter, and Peter was moving so quickly from place to place that Charles couldn't tell what he was doing. “Peter?”

“Morning!” Peter said cheerily. “I wasn't expecting anyone to be up this early.”

“What, might I ask, are you doing?”

“Cooking breakfast,” Peter said, moving from the stove to the refrigerator to the table and back again before Charles could take a breath. “I had to go to the store and get stuff because you totally didn't have enough food for me to cook with. I took money out of that drawer in your office. I hope you don't mind.”

Charles sighed and wheeled himself over to the table, taking a look at the plates and silverware all laid out for five people. “Well, at least you didn't steal all of it, but Peter, next time I would like you to ask me for money first.”

“Well, you weren't in your room, so I kind of couldn't.”

Charles froze at that. “How do you know I wasn't in my room?”

“Do you know how easy it is to pick a lock?” Peter said, suddenly standing next to him. “I went in and you weren't there. It's no big deal. There's like eight million rooms in this place. So you spent the night in a different one. I don't care.”

Peter didn't say it, but Charles immediately picked up on the fact that Peter knew exactly what room he'd been in, and he swallowed hard. “You're going to have to stop picking locks, Peter. People enjoy their privacy.”

“I'll work on it.” Peter was suddenly in front of the stove again, and Charles just shook his head. 

“Peter, may I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” Peter said, flipping a pancake. “What do you want to know, Professor? I should call you Professor, right? Alex told me I should call you Professor.”

“Professor is fine,” Charles said. “The other day, when you wanted to make a phone call home, you referred to Marya instead of calling her Mom. Is Marya not your mother?”

“No, Marya is not my mother,” Peter said, and suddenly there was a plate full of pancakes on the table. “My mother died not that long after I was born. Marya was a good friend of my mother's, and she took me in. She formally adopted me when I was about six. That's why I've got the Maximoff last name instead of my real last name. Then my abilities emerged and I drove her absolutely crazy with how fast I could move, and then the whole stealing things started to happen. She just got used to it, and started dealing with the cops once they figured out it was me. She's great really, but I think it's time for me to leave her alone. I've tortured her enough, you know?”

Charles took all of that in. “So tell me about your mother then.”

“I have like zero memories of her,” Peter said. “I know her name and stuff because of Marya, and I've seen a picture or two, but that's it.”

“What was her name?”

“Magda,” Peter said, suddenly standing next to Charles. “Magda Eisenhart. That's my real last name. Eisenhart. But no one has called me that since I was six.”

Charles didn't let it show, but his mind was flooded with a memory from over a decade ago, when Erik had told him about his alias of Magnus Eisenhart and all about Magnus's wife Magda. _She was my first real love, Charles. But then I got a lead on Schmidt, and I just left immediately. I didn't even say goodbye. I have no idea where she is or if she would even want me to find her now. So I've just set that part of my life aside and moved on._

“What happened to her?”

“Car accident,” Peter said from his place by the stove. “Well, she was a pedestrian, but she was hit by a car. Marya said she was dead by the time paramedics got there.”

“Peter?”

“Yeah, Professor?” Peter asked, his head in the refrigerator.

“Why do you think Erik is your father?”

Peter fell silent, and Charles turned his wheelchair around to see him standing there, carafe full of orange juice in one hand, pan of scrambled eggs in the other. “How do you know that?”

“I'm a telepath,” Charles said. “And we're going to have to work on your projection of thoughts. You don't keep what you're thinking to yourself. I hear all of it.”

“So you know everything that I'm thinking?” Peter asked. “Like, all the time?”

“I know you think I spent the night with Erik last night,” Charles said, keeping his voice calm. “I know you contemplated going into Erik's room this morning before you decided not to. I know what you think you would have found in there.”

Peter just sighed. “Well, come on. You two aren't exactly subtle. I don't see how Alex and Hank haven't noticed.”

Charles took a deep breath. “Peter, you understand when I tell you that you cannot say anything to anyone about this, right?”

“My lips are sealed,” Peter said, putting the eggs on the table and making a glass of orange juice miraculously appear before Charles. “Don't worry, Professor. I've got you covered. Classical music coming from a room means stay the hell out of it. I got it.”

Charles picked up on Peter's thoughts again, and this time he put his head in his hands in embarrassment. “You saw us?”

“Just for like thirty seconds and then I got the hell out of there,” Peter said seriously. “And I'd really rather not ever think about that again. You two can have all the sex you want; I just don't want to witness any more of it.”

“Excuse me?”

They both turned at the sound of Erik's voice and Charles could sense the waves of hostility coming off him. “It's alright, Erik,” Charles said, trying to calm him down. “Peter has learned his lesson about picking locks, haven't you Peter?”

“No more picking locks especially when classical music is playing in the room,” Peter said quickly, going back to the stove and starting to make more pancakes. “Sit down and eat before it gets cold.”

Erik stayed frozen to the spot, his eyes trained on Charles. Charles could feel the terror rolling off of him, and he quickly wheeled himself over to him. “Erik,” he said softly. “It's okay.”

“He knows.” Erik breathed out. “Someone knows.”

“I'm not going to say anything,” Peter said as Charles reached for Erik's hand. “So you can totally calm down, Erik.”

Charles squeezed Erik's hand and tried to get him to move. “Come on, let's eat breakfast.”

“I'm not hungry,” Erik said, pulling his hand from Charles's grasp and walking out of the room.

Charles sighed. _Erik, come back._

_I can't, Charles. Not right now. Just give me a little time._

Charles sighed again. _Alright. I'll find you after breakfast._

Charles wheeled himself over to the table and reached for the plate of pancakes. “Where did you learn how to cook, Peter?”

“Marya,” Peter said, appearing in the seat next to him. “Look, I'm sorry if I just screwed something up there.”

“You haven't screwed anything up,” Charles said, though he wasn't fully confident of that. “You never did answer my question, you know?”

“What question was that?” Peter had pancakes buttered and syrup poured on them before Charles could blink.

“Why do you think Erik is your father?”

“My mother knew a man who could bend metal. Marya said he's my father. And well, Erik told me he can bend metal. I figure that's not a very common trait.”

“You may very well be right about that, Peter,” Charles said, knowing full well that he was. “Perhaps you should bring that up with Erik. And apologize for walking in on us.”

“You think he'll listen to me?” Peter's voice was suddenly very small and quiet, and Charles could feel the longing.

“I'm sure he will,” Charles said, and he made a vow to tell Erik not to avoid Peter just because of this. Peter was just a kid who wanted to know his father. “Have you ever had a father figure, Peter?”

“Oh yeah, Marya was married to this guy Django for awhile. He was strange. Never thought of me as weird though. Probably because he was just as weird.”

Charles continued to question Peter about his childhood as he ate his breakfast, Hank and Alex joining them not too long after Erik had left. Neither of them seemed to be bothered about Erik's absence, and Charles sighed when he caught a piece of one of Alex's thoughts, hoping that Erik had just up and died in his sleep. He finished his breakfast and took his plate to the sink, then excused himself and wheeled out of the room.

He found Erik in his room, and Charles went in. The door closed and locked behind him, and Charles took one look at Erik's despondent face before closing his eyes and quickly soundproofing the room, complete with classical music so Peter knew to stay away.

“Brahms's _Tragic Overture_ ,” Charles said as he moved closer to Erik. “No one can hear us.”

“Peter knows.”

Charles stopped close to the bed and then maneuvered himself onto it, settling himself next to Erik. “Yes, he does. He said we weren't that subtle.”

“Hank and Alex don't have a clue, right?”

“No, they don't know. And Peter is not going to tell them.”

Erik looked over at Charles, and Charles leaned into his side. “Trust me, Erik. Trust Peter too.”

“I do trust you,” Erik said, pulling Charles closer. “I don't know that I can trust him.”

“You can,” Charles said, putting his head on Erik's shoulder. “He sees a lot of things because he's so quick. He knows a lot of things that he shouldn't. But he doesn't go around talking about them with the whole world. So trust him. He's not going to tell Hank or Alex or anyone else for that matter.”

“When did he see us?” Erik eventually said.

“In the study, right after he was done with his phone call,” Charles said. “He picked the lock. Apparently that's something else he's quite good at. I have a feeling that it's going to be difficult to break him of his habits.”

Erik let out a small laugh at that. “Probably.”

“You should talk to him,” Charles said softly. “I'll occupy Hank and Alex. You need to talk to him.”

Erik leaned his head against Charles's and sighed. “What do I need to talk to him about?”

“Peter would like to apologize, for one,” Charles said. “He also has something that he needs to discuss with you. Something of a very personal nature.”

Erik inhaled sharply and Charles put a hand on his knee, squeezing it softly. “You know, don't you, Charles?”

“I didn't get it out of your head,” Charles said, “though I can tell now that it's in there. He came to the conclusion all on his own.”

Erik forced himself to take a deep breath. “Marya and I knew each other. She opened the door and the first word out of her mouth was Magnus. That's when it all clicked. Peter told me when he broke me out that his mother knew a man who could bend metal. It stuck with me. But it didn't all click until Marya called me Magnus. God, Charles, I have a son.”

“You have a highly intelligent, extremely gifted, quick witted son who wants nothing more than to know his father,” Charles said, rubbing circles into Erik's thigh. “He deserves to know the truth, Erik.”

“I know,” Erik said softly. “And he'll be able to tell me what happened to Magda? Marya didn't get the chance.”

“Yes,” Charles said. “He knows what happened to Magda.”

Erik swallowed hard. “Charles, I'm not sure I can have that conversation. How do I tell my son that I didn't know about him until six days ago?”

“You tell him the truth,” Charles murmured. “You loved Magda, Erik. I know you did. But there was a mission that was greater than anything else in your life, and you left to pursue it. And I think if you sat down with Peter and explained it all to him, from the concentration camp to Cuba, he will come to understand.”

“Okay,” Erik said, putting a hand on top of Charles's on his leg. “But I don't have to do it this second, do I?”

“No,” Charles said. “You don't even have to do it today if you don't want to. But before you leave, you definitely need to do it.”

“I just need some time,” Erik murmured. “I'm still reeling from the news, you know. I still can't believe I'm a father.”

“I think you'd make a good father,” Charles mused. “I think that being a father would make the good side of you come out more. I think then maybe you'd realize that it's been there all along.”

“I am not a good man, Charles,” Erik said firmly. “I'm a monster.”

“No,” Charles whispered. “You're not.”

Erik sighed and squeezed Charles's hand. “Can we just lay down for awhile? Just talk?”

“Of course,” Charles said, sitting up and smiling at Erik. “Above or below the linens?”

“Above,” Erik murmured. “I might have to undress you if we get below the linens.”

Charles laughed. “We may have to do that later.”

“Oh, we will be doing that later,” Erik said, grinning. “Come on, I'll help you move.”


	7. day seven.

“I know what you're up to.”

Erik looked up from where he was reading the newspaper to see Hank standing there, arms crossed over his chest. “And what exactly is that, Hank?”

“You're trying to make him trust you again, only for you to go and shatter that trust into pieces. And that will shatter him into pieces again,” Hank said. “So I'm asking you politely to leave.”

Erik sighed and folded the newspaper up, putting it on the sofa next to him. “You have no idea what I'm up to, Hank. It's certainly not to shatter Charles into pieces.”

“You weren't here,” Hank said angrily. “You didn't see what he was like after Cuba. You didn't see what he was like after the school had to close. I was. I glued the pieces back together. I kept him from falling apart again. I do not want to have to go through that process again.”

Erik forced himself to take a deep breath and remain calm. “From what I understand, you became little more than his drug dealer. You were the one enabling him, Hank. Not me. I wasn't here.”

Hank growled. “I made him that serum so that he could sleep without being in pain.”

“And you didn't care how much of it he took,” Erik said, allowing some of his anger to creep into his voice. “You just sat by as he shot himself up again and again. You let him abandon us all. You sat here and enabled him, Hank. Whether you want to admit it or not, that serum was a drug, and you were his dealer. He might as well have been doing heroin.”

“I was trying to help him!”

“And you did,” Erik exclaimed. “You helped him right into a drug and alcohol addiction that he's still not over. Do you even know that his mother was an alcoholic? That he comes from a long line of alcoholics? That the last thing Charles ever should have been allowed to do was sit there and become an alcoholic himself? When I was last here, I begged him to get some help. He refused, but he promised me that he'd slow up how much he drank. It's been four months, and he has. He's actually drinking out of a glass again instead of straight from the bottle, and he sure as hell isn't going through more than a bottle a day. And that's not because of you, Hank. That's because of me.”

“You're going to try to take credit for that?” Hank laughed. “You do not help him, Erik. You only hurt him. You have only ever hurt him. And I swear to God, when you leave this time, I'm going to make sure that you never come back. I will hunt you down and I will kill you before you come back here and hurt him again.”

“Are we killing Erik?” came Alex's voice, and they both looked over to see him standing in the doorway. “Because if we are, I totally want to help.”

“No one is killing anyone,” Charles said firmly, wheeling himself into the room from the other side. “I have told both of you on numerous occasions what would happen if you try to harm Erik. Do not test my patience.”

“Charles, can't you see what he's doing? He's trying to break you again,” Hank said seriously. “And I'm sorry, but I don't want to be the one to pick up the pieces again. I've already done that.”

“Hank and I were just disagreeing about whether or not he'd become your enabler,” Erik said, reaching for the newspaper again. “He was little more than a drug dealer to you.”

Charles sighed. “Erik.”

“You know I'm right,” Erik said, trying to find where he'd left off in the paper. “That serum was a drug and you were addicted to it.”

“Yes, I was,” Charles said, looking up at Hank. “I wouldn't go so far as to say that you were my drug dealer or my enabler, Hank, but there is an element of addiction that did develop over the course of time, both to alcohol and to that serum. Erik helped me process that while you were gone a few months ago. He helped me realize that my reasons for letting the addiction overwhelm me were unfounded.”

“I'm the one that's been here, Charles,” Hank said seriously. “I'm the one whose been helping you, who kept you together when all you wanted was to fall apart. And now you're seriously just going to tell me that I did all of that for nothing?”

“Hank, I very much appreciate your loyalty to me and everything that you did to keep me together over the last several years. Do not think differently,” Charles said. “But sometimes, you can be too close to the forest to see the trees, to borrow an expression. You saw what you did as a way to help me, and it did. It helped me when I needed it the most. But when presented with the scenario, Erik viewed it as you enabling my slide into addiction. And make no doubt about it, I was addicted to that serum. I only gave it up because I knew I had absolutely no choice if we were going to stop Mystique.”

“But Charles...”

“Hank, you know a lot about me. You have seen me at my very worst. But that does not mean I have told you everything about me, and that does not mean that Erik doesn't know me better than you do. You both know very different sides of me. Erik was able to see the other side when he arrived here a few months ago, and his opinion as an outsider was very informative. I hope to be able to show you the best of me once we get the school up and running, so that you may see both sides of me. But I don't know when I'm going to be back to my best, and I do know that treating Erik as though he is nothing more than a criminal will not help me,” Charles said, wheeling himself closer to Erik. “If we put Raven to the side because I feel she is family, then Erik is the closest friend I've ever had. And a few disagreements is not going to change that.”

Alex let out a noise at that. “A few disagreements? He paralyzed you, Professor.”

“Yes, I am aware of that, Alex,” Charles said, looking over at Erik. “But he has also apologized for doing so, and I have forgiven him. He did not intend to injure me. It was an unfortunate deflection of a bullet. It was not on purpose.”

“Charles,” Hank said, shaking his head. “Don't you see that he's got you under his spell again? He's just going to hurt you. That's all he's good at.”

“No, Hank, that is not all he's good at,” Charles murmured, looking over at Erik, who was studying the newspaper as though it contained the secrets of the world. “There is a very human side to the man the world knows as Magneto. And I have been allowed to see it when others have not. You have seen parts of it, both of you have. You should not forget the man who helped recruit you kids, who helped train you kids. He is just as much a part of Erik as Magneto is. And while Magneto and I may have our differences, Erik and I are still capable of having civil conversations over a game of chess.”

_We're capable of a lot more than that, Charles._

_Would you like me to tell them about that, Erik?_

_No._ Erik coughed and folded the newspaper down, glancing over at Hank and Alex, who had moved next to Hank. “I know that the two of you don't want me here, and I know that I receive and deserve a lot of the blame for Charles's self-destruction, but I would also like to receive a lot of credit for pulling him out of it. I saw him on that plane, Hank. I saw how broken he was. I knew I was responsible for some of that, for a lot of that. So pardon me if I want to help Charles regain the place where he will be most helpful to the world. That place between rage and serenity that is so important.

“Charles's work with mutants is of the utmost importance. The school is a brilliant idea and I have told him that since the first time I heard about it. And I heard about it long before either of you two did. We're both working for the same thing, the betterment of mutants. We just have different methods of doing so.”

“You can say that again,” Alex muttered. “There's still remnants of a stadium around the White House.”

“I'm sorry, Charles, but I can't believe a word that he's saying,” Hank said. “Not even when he admits some blame.”

Erik sighed. “I don't know why I bother trying to explain myself. It's obvious that you two will never listen.”

“For what it's worth,” Peter said, suddenly appearing next to Erik and pulling the newspaper out of his hands. “I think Erik is pretty cool. Pretty crazy, but pretty cool. And just because you two are too stupid to see that him and Charles get along really well doesn't mean that Erik should be killed.”

Charles looked over at Peter and smiled. “Thank you, Peter.”

“No problem,” Peter said, handing the newspaper back to Erik now that it was on the cartoon section. “Now that's the best section of the newspaper, Erik. That's what you should be reading. By the way, I painted those rooms upstairs but I can't move the furniture by myself. I tried, but it's like way too heavy for me to lift on my own.”

Hank blinked. “We just bought the paint this morning.”

“Yeah,” Peter said, rolling his eyes. “Did you miss the part where I do things at super fast speeds? I painted those rooms in like two minutes.”

“There were ten rooms to be painted,” Alex said.

“Yeah, I know.” 

Hank and Alex exchanged glances before Hank sighed. “I'll take the first five, you take the others?”

“Sounds good,” Alex said. “And if we have to repaint those rooms, Peter, I'm going to hunt you down and tie you to something so you can't move.”

“You won't need to repaint them!” Peter called out as they left the room. “I am an expert painter! It was my summer job last year! Also, you'd never be able to catch me!”

Erik and Charles looked at each other while Peter laughed, and then he was gone.

“I'm sorry about them,” Charles said. 

“It's alright,” Erik said. “It's no less than what I deserve.”

“It's hard for Hank to hear that you've helped me more than he has.”

“I know,” Erik murmured, setting the newspaper to the side and sliding forward on the sofa. “But I had to say my piece. I had to let him know how I felt about the situation.”

Charles nodded. “I knew you would at some point. I wasn't anticipating it being this afternoon however. You were supposed to be joining me in the study.”

“I was going to as soon as I was done with the newspaper,” Erik said, smiling at him. “But I can be done with it now.”

Charles grinned and started wheeling himself out of the room. “Good, because I have some excellent music picked out for our chess game. Chopin's polonaises.”

“Your taste in music is improving,” Erik said, standing up and following him. 

Charles laughed. “Don't worry, Erik. I still know every word to every Elvis song there is.”

Erik just shook his head. “Of course you do.”


	8. day eight.

Erik was on his nightly jog when Peter suddenly appeared beside him. And though he could tell that it was driving Peter crazy, Peter was jogging at Erik's pace, which Erik interpreted as meaning he wanted to talk.

He wasn't ready for this talk.

It seemed Peter wasn't either, because they were both quiet for a good five minutes, until Erik stopped near the gazebo in the backyard and told Peter to sit down.

Peter did so without comment.

"Ask me," Erik said, sitting down on the opposite side of the gazebo. "Just ask me."

"My mother knew a guy who could bend metal," Peter eventually said, his voice small and quiet, the exact opposite of the fast, loud voice he usually had. "Marya told me that he was my father. They told me before I broke you out that you could bend metal. I figure that's not a very common trait."

Erik sat there for a moment, just studying him. Peter resembled his father Jakob in ways that Erik couldn't believe he could still recognize, given how long it had been since he'd been able to study his father's face. But he had Magda's eyes. Magda's beautiful eyes.

"You have Magda's eyes," Erik murmured. "And my father's looks."

"You abandoned her. You abandoned both of us." There wasn't anger in Peter's voice, only hurt and disappointment.

"I loved your mother," Erik started. "And I never meant to abandon her the way that I did. But my life was dominated by a single purpose, one that consumed me for years, and I had to pursue that until its end. By the time I was done, I figured your mother would want nothing to do with me, so I didn't attempt to find her. I never knew she was pregnant. I never knew about you."

"What was so important that you had to abandon us?"

Erik took a deep breath, let his eyes close for a moment, and then began to speak. He started in 1944, from when he'd been separated from his family and bent the gates at the concentration camp, and he went through the whole story. His voice was full of vitriol and hate as he talked about Klaus Schmidt, about the Nazis he had to encounter in order to find Schmidt, about the men he had killed in his pursuit of justice. 

He talked about that night in the water in Miami, the night he'd first met Charles, how he learned that Klaus Schmidt was really Sebastian Shaw, how he was ready to walk out on the CIA until Charles convinced him to stay. He talked about the kids, that first group that he and Charles had worked so hard to recruit, then about Cuba and how he got what he wanted, how he had killed Shaw, but he'd given up the one thing in his life that he'd never wanted to let go of.

"Charles," Peter interrupted. "You gave up Charles."

"Yes," Erik said. "I gave up Charles because we had a difference of opinion about how to proceed about the relationship between humanity and mutanity. And I won't lie, Peter. We still have deep, fundamental differences in how we view the world. But we need each other too much. We balance each other out.”

“Good,” Peter said, “because you need someone to balance out the crazy.”

Erik laughed. “I don't think I'm crazy.”

“I know you don't,” Peter said, looking up at him. “But trust me, you're crazy. Especially when you drop stadiums on places and make speeches about how mutants should take over the world.”

Erik sighed. “And this is why I think it's best that you remain here as a student of Charles's. You view the world the way that he does.”

“Does that mean I'm never going to see you again?” Erik could hear the longing in Peter's voice. “Because I'd like to actually get to know you, Dad.”

Erik groaned. “Okay, I'm not prepared for that term of endearment yet, so let's stick with Erik for now.”

“Fine,” Peter said, his voice clipped. “Erik.”

“It's not that I don't want to be your father, Peter. It's that I've only known I am a father for a little over a week. I need time to process this,” Erik said, leaning forward. “And no, you will see me again. Now I will have two reasons to visit this place. Charles and you.”

“Marya told me your name was Magnus.”

“It was,” Erik said, running his hands through his hair. “Your mother knew me as Magnus Eisenhart. That's how Marya knows me too.”

“But now you're Erik.”

“But now I'm Erik.” 

“I can understand that, I guess.” Peter looked up at him and studied him for a few moments. “I'm sorry you had to go through all that. And I think if you had told Mom about it, she would have understood. I mean, it's just a guess. I don't really have memories of her.”

“What happened to her?” Erik asked, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice and failing.

“She was crossing a street and some asshole hit her with his car,” Peter said softly. “Then the asshole drove over her to get away. By the time the paramedics got there, she was dead.”

Erik inhaled sharply, not expecting the wave of emotions that welled up within him. “I'm sorry,” was all he could think to say.

“Not your fault,” Peter murmured. “Marya and her husband Django took me in. Adopted me formally when I was six. I've been a Maximoff ever since. And it's ridiculous, but every time I was somewhere with a phone book, I would look through it for the name Magnus Eisenhart. I've always wanted to know you.”

“Well, I will make sure that you do,” Erik said, holding out his hand. “But it is going to take me awhile to get used to the fact that I have a sixteen-year-old son.”

Peter took Erik's hand and stood up, forcing Erik up with him. He looked at their joined hands for a moment before pulling Erik into a surprise hug. Erik wasn't sure what to do about it, but before he could say anything, the hug ended and Peter disappeared. 

Erik sat back down on the gazebo bench and put his head in his hands, trying to process everything that had been in that conversation. Tears fell from his eyes as he thought about what had happened to Magda, and again as he thought about the longing in Peter's voice. He knew all about what it was like to long for your father.

Eventually, he felt the gentle brush of Charles's mind against his, and Erik turned to look at the mansion, seeing Charles sitting there on the edge of the patio. Without thinking about it, he levitated the wheelchair and brought Charles to the gazebo. Charles took one look at him and reached out, wiping the tracks of his tears from Erik's face.

“I take it you had the discussion.”

“Yeah, we had the discussion,” Erik murmured. “He disappeared after it. I don't know where he went.”

“I heard him in the sitting room with Hank and Alex before I came out here,” Charles said. “He's alright.”

“Good,” Erik said, catching Charles's wrist and bringing his hand up to kiss. “I want him to have a home here. I want him to thrive.”

“I suspect that he will,” Charles said, putting his hand on the side of Erik's head. “If only I can break him of his kleptomania. I suspect that's going to be difficult.”

“This is important to me, Charles,” Erik said, suddenly very serious. “I'm entrusting my son to your care. Not the school's, not Hank's, not Alex's. Yours. I need to know that you'll take care of him.”

“I will,” Charles said, curling his hand around Erik's neck. “I promise you, I will take care of him.”

“I know you're probably going to turn him into one of your X-Men,” Erik said, taking a deep breath. “I don't want to fight against my son, but he seems to share your ideals, not mine. He keeps calling me crazy.”

“That's because you are,” Charles said, rubbing circles on the back of Erik's neck with his thumb. “And I will try to make sure you don't have to fight against your son, but I can make no promises on that. He might really want to fight against the Brotherhood.”

“Right now, there isn't really much of a Brotherhood,” Erik said, shaking his head. “You probably have more X-Men than I have mutant brothers and sisters.”

“But there will be,” Charles said seriously. “You know that as well as I do. And we're going to have conflicts, Erik. That's just the way it is. I won't stop him from fighting if he wants to fight.”

“I know,” Erik said, grasping Charles's wrist again and pulling his hand away from him. “I need to tell you why I went to Peter's.”

Charles nodded. “I've been waiting to hear that ever since I found out you went there.”

Erik took a deep breath. “I wanted him to get me inside the Pentagon.”

Charles laughed. “All the work we did to get you out, and you wanted Peter to take you back. Whatever for?”

“I'm not convinced they've stopped the sentinel program,” Erik said. “The last time I talked to Mystique, she said that Trask Industries was still working with the government, despite Trask's arrest. She couldn't figure out what for. I figure the answer lies somewhere within the Pentagon. I don't have Raven's shape-shifting ability. I needed a way to get into where I needed to go without anyone seeing me. He was the first person I thought of when I realized I needed help.”

Charles nodded. “And instead you led a host of FBI and CIA agents to his house.”

“Yes,” Erik said, taking another deep breath. “I was too worried about the sentinel program to realize that I was being tracked. I told Peter that he better come with me because they've probably got him on film from when you broke me out. I didn't want to leave him at the mercy of those agents. Lord knows what they would have done to him.”

“It seems wise to keep him here as a student, and then possibly as a teacher,” Charles murmured. “They'll be watching his house for any sign of him.”

“Then it's a good thing he wants to stay, isn't it?” Erik ran his hands through his hair. “Charles, I'm really worried about this. I got metal into those sentinels at the demonstration, but if they're making tons of them, I won't be able to do that to all of them. Especially not if they are deployed all over the country or the world. I can't be everywhere at once.”

“I will do some research,” Charles said. “I'll use Cerebro tomorrow to listen in on some conversations at Trask and at the Pentagon, see what I can find out. And I'll put Hank and Alex onto the job as well. They obviously need to be occupied.”

“Charles,” Erik said softly. “I can't stay here for much longer.”

Charles smiled sadly. “I know. But can you at least give me a few more days? I'm not ready to let you go yet.”

“I'm not ready to leave yet either,” Erik said. “A few more days, but not much longer than that. That's all I can promise you.”

“Then I will savor every second we spend together,” Charles said, attempting to smile and failing miserably. “The kids are occupied with the television. We could go up to your room and take a nice long shower and then have an early night tonight.”

Erik laughed at that. “You mean we can start having sex earlier tonight. You don't want to go to bed early.”

“No, I don't,” Charles said, smiling. “I need you, Erik. I crave you in ways that I cannot explain, even to myself.”

“This would be so much easier if you were a horrible person.”

“And it would be so much easier if you really were a monster,” Charles said softly. “But obviously things between us were not meant to be easy.”

“Apparently not,” Erik said, standing up. “Alright, long shower and then an early night.”

Charles grinned as the wheelchair suddenly lifted off the ground. “How do you feel about Bach's _The Well-Tempered Clavier_ tonight?”

“ _Das Wohltemperierte Klavier_?” Erik said, smiling at him. “It was one of my mother's favorites. It's perfect.”


	9. day nine.

Charles wheeled himself out of Cerebro, finding Hank and Alex standing there waiting to hear what he'd learned. “Erik's right. There's something going on at the Pentagon. I'm not sure Trask Industries is fully involved, but they may be helping by providing information on mutants they have located. We can probably add Peter to their list now as well, given what happened at his house.”

Hank muttered something Charles couldn't catch under his breath while Charles did hear Alex's thought of _fuck_.

“So what do we do?” Alex asked. “I still don't trust him.”

“Neither do I,” Hank said, looking at Charles. “Is Raven a possibility?”

“I searched for her while I was in there, but I was unable to find her, and I didn't want to spend a lot of time in the machine,” Charles said. “It's still giving me a headache.”

Hank looked past Charles at the closed doors and pondered that for a moment. “Maybe I still don't have it calibrated right. I'll look into it.”

“Thank you, Hank,” Charles said, wheeling past them towards the elevator. “I'm going to find Erik. He needs to hear this.”

“Do you want me to distract Peter?” Alex said, following him. “I'm not sure how much a sixteen-year-old should know about this, even if he is involved.”

Charles sighed as he reached the elevator, reaching out and pressing the button to open the doors. “Perhaps that is best for now, Alex. But, it may reach a point where he needs to know.”

Alex followed Charles into the elevator, waiting until the doors were shut to speak. “Professor? Before we go up, why do you put up with him?”

Charles took a moment. “Erik and I are more alike than you would think. At the end of the day, the basic thing is we both want to help mutants. We disagree completely about how to go about that, but we respect each other too much to hate each other. I'm doing things my way, and he is doing things his way. We know that we're not always going to agree, and that we are more than likely going to disagree about things. But I think it is important that we can still sit down and have a conversation over a glass of scotch and a chess game. And I know that you and Hank don't understand that, but it's important to me, and I wish that you two would accept it.”

Alex stood there for a moment, then reached forward to push the button to send the elevator up. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

That wasn't exactly what Charles was trying to convey, but he figured it was closer to the truth than Alex had thought before. “Sort of.”

“I'd still be happier if he was dead.”

“You should never wish for someone to die, Alex. You never know how that death can affect the world around you.”

“You'd fall apart again, wouldn't you?”

Charles didn't want to answer that, but he also knew that he couldn't lie about it. “Yes. Besides Raven, Erik is the best friend I've ever had. Losing him would devastate me. It did before, and it would happen again.”

The elevator doors opened, and Charles wheeled himself out, turning towards his study. “Peter is in the kitchen. Why don't you take him down to the swimming pool for awhile? Try to forget about this.”

“Alright, Professor,” Alex said, taking off towards the kitchen.

Charles made his way into his study and found Erik sitting there, staring at the chess board in front of him. “Are you wishing to continue our game?”

Erik looked up at him, and then the door to the study swung shut and locked itself. “Just examining my potential moves. What did you find out?”

“The Pentagon has a mutant monitoring program going,” Charles said, reaching up to rub at his temples because he still had a headache. “It's being headed by William Stryker. His father was one of the first CIA agents I met back in 1962; the son is military. I didn't say this to the kids, because I don't want them to worry because they are safe as long as they stay within the walls of the mansion, but they have the identities of those of us who were at the White House that day. You, obviously, were immediately recognizable to them. Raven, Hank, and I were identified via the CIA. Logan is the only one they know nothing about, and I have heard nothing from him since that day. 

“I think we can probably add Peter to the list now that he's gone on the run with you, and soon they will have Alex's identity as well. They're working with Trask Industries to identify a group of mutant soldiers who were supposed to be sent to them from Vietnam, but were sent home instead. From what Alex has told me about how he got out of Vietnam, that was Raven's doing. Trask Industries is also working on a deal with the Pentagon to continue their pursuit of mutants. They have some way of identifying and locating mutants. At the moment, they aren't saying they want to continue with the experimentation and mutilation, but it's only a matter of time. We may have gotten the sentinel program canceled, but I'm very concerned about this program they are putting together to take its place.”

Erik sat there for a moment before sighing heavily. “Fuck. I was hoping it was just me they were after, but I was worried it was more than that.”

“I need you to stay, Erik,” Charles said softly. “I don't know what I'll do if they capture you again.”

“I can't, Charles,” Erik responded. “This is the time to recruit, to mobilize. They're looking for a fight and we have to be ready to give them one.”

“You make it sound as though a war is coming,” Charles said, wheeling himself closer to Erik and reaching out for his hand. “Erik, please. You're safe here. You're safe here with me.”

“This isn't about being safe,” Erik said, turning to look at him. “This is about being prepared for the new threat. Hiding in your mansion is not going to do that.”

“We could work together,” Charles pleaded. “You could bring your Brotherhood members here, we could all train together, and if action is necessary, we could do it all together.”

“Charles, you don't agree with me or my methods,” Erik said, letting Charles take his hand. “You would not agree with my Brotherhood members, and you would not agree to my training methods, and you would not agree with when action is necessary. Because action is necessary, Charles. They are bringing a fight to us, and we have to be ready to fight them.”

“Erik, please...”

“No, Charles,” Erik said forcefully. “I need to leave.”

“Erik.”

“Charles, no. You cannot change my mind on this. I'm not ready to be here all the time. You know that. I have to leave, and leave now.”

“You promised me a few more days,” Charles said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I'll let you leave, I'll let you do whatever you want, but please don't rob me of them. Please, Erik.”

Erik sighed and turned towards Charles, bringing his hand up to his lips to kiss. “If you promise to let me go, I promise to stay for a few more days.”

“I promise,” Charles breathed out. “I promise.”

“Then I promise you will have me for a few more days,” Erik said, his eyes softening as they looked at Charles. “What are the kids doing?”

“Hank is working on Cerebro, and Alex and Peter are down at the swimming pool. Why?”

Erik smiled at him. “Because I think we need to go find a bed and have sex in it. I need to prove to you that I mean my promise.”

Charles sucked in a deep breath then broke out into a grin. “My room or yours?”

“Whichever you want,” Erik said, standing up and letting go of Charles's hand. “May I make the music selection?”

“So long as I know it,” Charles said, moving towards the door.

“Bach's _Mass in B minor_ ,” Erik said, following him. “And if you don't know that one, then we're going to have to have a discussion about classical music again.”

Charles laughed as he made his way out of the study and towards the elevator. “I know that one.”

“Good,” Erik said, smiling. “Very good.”


	10. day ten.

Charles woke up with Erik's arms firmly wrapped around his waist, and he smiled happily. He knew Erik was going to leave in the next few days, but he didn't know exactly when, so every second he got to spend with him was something to savor.

Erik stirred moments later, his lips ghosting a kiss along the back of Charles's neck, and Charles sighed, fully content. "Good morning," Erik drawled, tightening his grip around Charles's waist. "What time is it?"

Charles glanced over at the clock on his bedside table. "5:15."

"Mmm," Erik moaned. "Too early to be awake."

Charles sucked in a deep breath as one of Erik's hands slid down to wrap around Charles's very hard cock. "But not too early for other things?" Charles breathed out, moaning softly as Erik began to stroke him.

"It's never too early for other things," Erik said, punctuating each word with a kiss to the nape of Charles's neck. "It's never too early; it's never too late; it's always the right time for other things."

Charles shuddered as Erik's palm covered the head of his cock, massaging gently and getting slick with moisture. Erik started stroking him again, and Charles moaned softly as Erik's hand slid easily across his skin.

"Do you know how often I think of this?" Erik murmured. "How many times at night I dream about waking up just like this, your body curled with mine, your cock aching for me? And it's never about me, Charles. It's about you. Bringing you off; listening to your moans and gasps; knowing that you're like this only for me. Because you're mine, Charles. You are mine and I am yours, and no amount of disagreement or distance will ever change that."

Charles groaned as Erik's hand picked up the pace, teasing the sensitive flesh by dragging fingernails gently across it, teasing the slit with his thumb. He wanted to talk, wanted to acknowledge what it was Erik had said, wanted to tell him that yes, he was Erik's and Erik was his and nothing would ever change that, but Charles couldn't find his voice. Instead he focused on breathing, his breaths becoming more and more shallow until he felt like he couldn't get enough air in his lungs.

Erik's thumb massaged the head of his cock one more time, and that was enough to send Charles over the edge, soaring into climax as his whole body crashed into the feeling, his cock erupting in Erik's hand. When Charles felt like he could talk again, he let his hands rest on where Erik still had an arm wrapped around him.

"Yours. No one else will ever see me like this. No one. Only you."

Erik smiled into Charles's skin, kissing and nipping lightly. "I've never said it, have I? I should."

"You don't need to," Charles said, shifting slightly to glance back at Erik. "I know."

"But I should at least say it," Erik said. "You deserve to hear me say it."

"Don't," Charles pleaded. "It'll just make it that much harder when you leave. I know how you feel about me, Erik. That's all that matters. Not three little words that will destroy me once you're gone."

Erik was silent for a moment, then quickly rolled Charles over so that he was hovering over him. "Alright, I won't say it. But I'm going to make sure you feel it."

And then Erik dipped down and kissed Charles long and deep, their tongues tangling together before Erik pulled back and made the kiss nothing more than shallow and sweet. Charles could feel Erik's mind reaching out and he welcomed it into his mind. There were no words; only wave after wave of love.

By the time Erik pulled away, Charles was an emotional mess. Erik took one look at him and pulled him closer, rolling them over so Charles was on top. Charles buried his face in Erik's neck, and Erik held him close as the tears began to flow. He whispered sweet things in German into Charles's ear, running a hand up and down his back.

"Don't go," Charles sobbed into Erik's skin. "Please, Erik."

"I have to," Erik murmured. "I'd stay if I could, Charles, but you know I can't. I won't lead the government straight to you, and that's exactly what would happen if I stayed. Besides, you have a school to run, students to find and train, and I don't want to interfere with that."

"You wouldn't," Charles got out. "You could help."

"I think we both know what a disaster that would be," Erik said, laughing softly. "Our recruiting trips proved that."

Charles shook his head. "You were very helpful on those trips."

"No I wasn't," Erik laughed. "All I did was show off. You're the one who talked them into coming with us. And that's the important part. That's what you need to do now. I've done my showing off."

Charles laughed at that. "Yes, on live national television," he murmured. "You practically destroyed D.C. to make your point."

"It was necessary," Erik said, smiling when Charles nipped at his neck. "And it worked, didn't it?"

"I would love to deny that, but I cannot," Charles mumbled. "You definitely ended the sentinel program, and that was the whole point."

Erik tightened his grip on Charles. "They should fear us, Charles. We are superior to them."

"They do fear us, Erik. And we are not superior to them. No more superior than homo sapiens were to the Neanderthals."

"Show me a living Neanderthal," Erik said. "Tell me what happened to them, Charles."

"Natural selection," Charles said, pulling back to look Erik in the eyes. "And yes, there will be a day when there are only mutants on this planet, where the humans have died out. But that won't happen for thousands of years, Erik. That's how natural selection works. Just because you want to speed up the process doesn't mean you're right about it."

"I don't want to fight with you," Erik said, pulling Charles into another kiss. "This is just proof that we would not be able to agree on things for the school, and even more proof for why I shouldn't be here. We're not at that stage yet, Charles. We're still too far apart."

"I don't want us to be," Charles said, looking down at Erik. "I want us to be in the same place. We need each other, Erik. We lose our way when we're not together."

"I will agree with that," Erik said, "but we can't be together yet, Charles. I have a mission now, and that mission is to keep the authorities from finding out where you and Peter are. That's what I have to do now. Other things will be part of that, other mutants will be part of that. I'm hoping I can convince Mystique to come back to the Brotherhood. She is useful in more ways than you think."

Charles knew what Erik was trying to say. "You're not coming back, are you?"

Erik sighed. "Not until I know it's safe. And that could be awhile."

Charles swallowed hard. "You promised someday."

"And I still take that promise seriously," Erik said firmly. "But it's not now, Charles. It's not yet."

"Fine." Charles sighed and glanced down. "We're sticky."

Erik laughed. "Yes, we are."

"We should do something about that."

Erik smiled at him. "We can do that."

Charles bent down and kissed Erik softly. "For the record, when I do let you say that three-word sentence to me, I'll say it back. Now, come pick me up and carry me to the shower."

Erik grinned and did as he was told.


	11. day eleven.

“You're not going to stay for much longer, are you?”

Erik looked up from the newspaper to find Peter standing in the doorway, a look he couldn't decipher on his face. “No,” he said honestly. “I'm not.”

“Why not?” Peter asked, not moving.

“Because I need to make sure you are safe,” Erik said. “You're not safe with me here.”

Peter was suddenly sitting next to Erik on the sofa, television turned on to the morning news. “If I had said no to the school, would you have let me go with you?”

Erik folded up his newspaper and set it in his lap. “No. Charles is right. You deserve a better life than the one that you would have had with me. And I'm afraid that I've already involved you too much, Peter. I can't even tell you that you would be safe at home with Marya. You probably wouldn't, and that's my fault too. But I need to know that you're safe. And you will be safe here.”

“So will Charles,” Peter said quietly. “You don't have to act like this is only about me.”

Erik sighed heavily and glanced around, wondering where Hank and Alex were. “We can't talk about that right now.”

“I can apologize though,” Peter said, looking over at him. “I haven't apologized for walking in on you like that yet. So, I'm sorry. I've learned my lesson. I know the signs and when to keep away. So you don't have to worry about that happening again. And if it does happen again, I may have to bleach my eyes. So, yeah. Sorry.”

Erik laughed. “Don't bleach your eyes. Just ask Charles to wipe the memory from your brain. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to.”

“He can do that?” Peter asked.

“He can do that and more,” Erik said, smiling. “Being a telepath is about a lot more than just listening in on other people's thoughts. Charles is the most amazingly gifted man I've ever met. There are some spectacular mutants in this world, Peter, and you are one of them. But Charles...there's just something different about Charles. His power is enormous, and if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't know how to use mine at full strength.”

“You think he can teach me to use mine at full strength?” Peter asked. “Because I kind of think that I don't really push myself. It's just so easy.”

“Then you probably aren't pushing yourself,” Erik said, looking over at him. “Charles will be able to help you with that. He'll train you up, and then you'll be ready for anything.”

“How's he going to train me from a wheelchair?”

“That's what the other teachers will be for, I presume,” Erik said, reaching for his newspaper again. “Though I'm not sure there are other teachers besides Hank and Alex at the moment.”

“And you won't stay here to be a teacher?”

“No,” Erik said, softly but firmly. “I'm not cut out to be a teacher, not even in a mutant school.”

“You'll visit though, right?”

Erik heard the longing in Peter's voice again, and it made his heart ache to see his own father. “Yes,” he said. “I'll come visit. I don't know when or for how long, but I will come visit.”

Peter stared at the television as Erik unfolded his newspaper, and then he sighed. “They're talking about you again.”

Erik lowered the newspaper until he could see the television, sighing when he saw his face on the screen. 

_“...agents say that Lehnsherr was last spotted in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, where they fear he has a hideout deep within the woods.”_

“Not in Colorado I don't,” Erik murmured, laughing. “Keep chasing ghosts. That's what I want you to do, you stupid agents.”

Peter looked over at him. “You do have hideouts though?”

“Of course,” Erik said, shaking his head when Peter started grinning. “I am not telling you where a single one of them is.”

“Oh come on! How am I supposed to know where to go when I want to visit you?”

“You're not to visit me,” Erik said firmly. “You will have to wait for me to visit you.”

Peter sulked. “I bet Charles knows where all of them are.”

“No, he doesn't.”

“Yeah, right. He probably got them out of your head while you weren't noticing.”

Erik raised his newspaper again, suddenly spotting Charles's name and zeroing in on the article. “Charles does not enter my mind without my permission. It's an agreement we have. Can you go get him for me?”

Peter stood up, still sulking. “I can't believe you won't tell your own son where to find you. Come on, Erik. Being a mutant is the family business. I should at least know where this stuff is.”

“Maybe someday,” Erik said, shaking his head. “Not now. Please go and find Charles for me. I need to speak with him.”

Peter sighed and then disappeared, reappearing a few seconds later. “Charles is in his study. You should probably go there, because he seemed really into the file he was reading.”

Erik stood up and looked over at Peter, who was still sulking. “Peter, I said someday. The less you know right now, the safer you are, okay? Just let me keep you safe. Please.”

“Is this obsession with keeping me safe supposed to make up for sixteen years of not knowing I existed?”

“I suppose it's part of it,” Erik said after a moment's reflection. “Please, just let me.”

“Fine,” Peter said, and then he was gone.

Erik made his way to Charles's study, shut and locked the door, and turned towards the desk. “Do you know Wagner? _Der Ring des Nibelungen?_ ”

“ _The Ring of the Nibelung_?” Charles asked without looking up. “Of course.”

“Soundproof with it,” Erik pleaded, and Charles looked up at him.

“Erik, what's wrong?”

“Soundproof first, Charles. Please.”

Charles closed his eyes and did as Erik asked, then reopened them to find Erik had moved to right in front of his desk. “What is it?”

“There's an article about you in the paper,” Erik said, folding it to the right spot and setting it in front of Charles. “Why is there an article about you in the paper?”

Charles picked it up and read through it briefly before looking up at Erik's terrified expression. “Erik, it's just a simple article about me reopening the school. It's nothing to be concerned about.”

“You think the Pentagon or Trask is going to feel that way if they see it?” Erik said, his voice shaky. “Charles, you have to be careful.”

“Erik, there has to be some awareness of the school out there or else no one will come to the school,” Charles said, setting the newspaper down. “This is nothing to be afraid of. There is no picture, there is only a reference to the mansion, there's no address or anything. It's just a simple notice that Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters will be reopening.”

“Charles...”

“Erik, trust me,” Charles said. “The CIA never had the address of this place. They had my address as being my old apartment in Oxford. They might see the name Charles Xavier, but there is nothing about this article to alert anyone who reads it. And I highly doubt the Pentagon is going to be reading the local Westchester newspaper.”

“And you are absolutely sure that Moira cannot remember this place?”

“I suspect I would have heard from the CIA by now if she did,” Charles said, setting the newspaper down and reaching for his bottom drawer. “Get us some glasses. I think you need a drink.”

Erik walked over to the bookshelf and pulled down a couple of books, grabbing the glasses behind them. “Charles, you cannot be found. They can't find you. I don't know what I'd do if they found you.”

“They're not going to find me,” Charles said as Erik set the glasses down in front of him. “Take a deep breath, Erik.”

Erik did so as he collapsed into the chair across from Charles, taking the glass that he offered him. “Charles.”

“Drink,” Charles murmured, sipping at his scotch. “Deep breath and drink up.”

Erik polished off his drink in one sip, setting the empty glass on the desk. “That helped a little.”

Charles reached out and refilled the glass, nudging it towards Erik. “Have another.”

Erik picked up the glass and polished it off in one sip again, taking a deep breath after setting the glass down. “Promise me that you aren't going to get caught.”

“I promise,” Charles said, refilling Erik's glass again. “I could sense someone coming here from a mile away, Erik, and you know that. I can easily stop them from coming here, even if it's a whole battalion. I know how to protect myself and this school.”

Erik reached out for the glass again, this time only sipping at it. “Okay,” he said in between sips. “I believe you.”

“You look unbelievably tense right now,” Charles murmured, setting his glass down and wheeling himself around the desk. “What can I do?”

Erik polished off his drink and turned to look at Charles. “Honestly? Let me put you on the rug and fuck you through it? I need to feel you right now.”

Charles grinned. “I think I can handle that.”


	12. day twelve.

Erik awoke to the loudness of laughter echoing through the house, and he turned to see that his bedroom door was open and Charles was gone. He stretched in bed for a moment before climbing out of it, sliding on some pants quickly before walking out of his room and into Charles's.

Charles was sitting in his wheelchair, hair still damp from the shower he'd obviously just taken. He was working on getting his shirt buttoned, and Erik just leaned against the doorframe and watched.

Charles smiled when another round of laughter echoed through the house. “Ah, Saturday morning cartoons. Always good things to keep the kids busy with. Even Peter is sitting there watching them.”

“Then why are you in here getting dressed when we could be having fun in my bed?” Erik asked, a playfulness to his voice.

Charles looked over at Erik, inhaling sharply when he noticed Erik wasn't wearing a shirt. “Put some decent clothes on, and then I want to show you something.”

“Can't you show me something after I've had my way with you in my bed? Or your bed, whichever you'd prefer?”

Charles shook his head. “I'm being serious, Erik. I want to show you something while everyone else is occupied.”

“Oh, alright,” Erik said, heading back into his room and pulling a shirt out of his suitcase, putting it on and walking back into the hallway. 

Charles was waiting there and he smiled brilliantly at him before wheeling himself past Erik and towards the elevator. “Come along, Erik. I think you'll like this.”

Erik followed Charles into the elevator and frowned when he pressed the button that would take them to the basement. “I thought you didn't want me seeing everything down there.”

“You won't,” Charles said. “All the doors down there are locked shut with technology that Hank assures me not even you could get around. I just want to show you one thing.”

Erik nodded as the elevator stopped, and he followed Charles out into a bright, white corridor which he realized after a moment was the old bomb shelter that Charles's stepfather had installed. “Well, this looks different.”

“Yes, well, that's Hank's doing. I told you, he ran with the X-Men thing as soon as he heard it. Anyway, what I want to show you is just down here at the end of the hall.”

Erik followed Charles down to where there was a big circular door with an X on it. “He really did run with the X-Men theme, didn't he?” Erik laughed.

“You cannot tell him that I've brought you down here,” Charles said seriously, wheeling himself close enough and waiting for the identification technology to work. “Hank would kill me if he knew what I was about to show you.”

Erik was about to say something when a blue beam came out from the middle of the door and shone itself onto Charles's face. After a moment, the system said “Welcome, Professor,” and the doors began to open. Charles waited until they were fully open before breaking out into a grin. 

“Welcome to Cerebro,” Charles said, wheeling himself in. 

Erik followed him, glancing around at the metal-clad sphere that surrounded them. “I now understand why Hank would kill you,” he murmured, looking all around. “Does it work?”

“Yes,” Charles said, stopping at the controls at the end of the bridge. “The calibration is a little off, however. Every time I use it, I get a headache.”

Erik hummed at that and looked around as the doors closed behind them. “What are you doing?”

“Showing you something,” Charles said, picking up the helmet and putting it on. “Stand still.”

Erik stood there as the metal panels that surrounded them seemed to fade away, and in its place came a lit up map of the world. “Hank has certainly improved this from the last time I saw it in action.”

Charles laughed. “Yes, he has. He's been working on it for over a decade, you know. These lights represent all the living people on Earth.”

Erik looked around. “That's a lot of people.”

“Yes,” Charles said, and the lights suddenly turned all white. “The white lights are the humans.”

“The inferior humans.”

“I am not arguing with you while we are in here, so stop,” Charles said, and then the lights all turned red. “The red lights are the mutants.”

Erik's jaw dropped. There were mutants everywhere, on every continent but Antarctica, in what looked like every country. There were so many mutants that Erik couldn't actually form words to describe how he was feeling.

“They're amazing, aren't they?” Charles asked, knowing that Erik was speechless. “I never would have guessed there were so many of us.”

“Charles, I...” Erik trailed off and stared at all the lights again. “It's incredible.” 

“This is what we're fighting for, Erik. Not just a small group of us here in America, but all of us all over the world. Once the humans become aware of just how many of us there are, they are going to be even more scared than they are now,” Charles said seriously. “But the answer to everything cannot be violence and conflict. There will have to be conversation and diplomacy. And while the humans might not understand that now, they will come to understand it. And I hope you will as well.”

“Well, conversation and diplomacy sound perfect for you,” Erik said. “But I'm not shying away from conflict just because there are so many of us. In fact, I'm more open to it now that I know I need to help protect millions of us than I was before.”

“I'm not trying to get you to change your mind or your methods,” Charles said, closing his eyes and shutting down the mental connection. The metal panels seemed to return to their places, and once it was severed completely, Charles took off the helmet. “I'm just trying to make you understand that whatever it is you do, it will have consequences far beyond the reach of just the American government.”

Erik watched as Charles's hands immediately went to his temples, massaging them. “Headache?”

“Yes,” Charles said, frowning. “I don't understand why. Hank has changed practically everything he can change.”

Erik closed his eyes and let the metal speak to him, and then he walked up to Charles and bent down to kiss him softly. “May I try?”

Charles gave him a confused look. “Erik, I highly doubt the systems that Hank has developed are anything that you have any experience with.”

“I don't want to change the system,” Erik said. “I want to rearrange the panels. They're not in harmony with each other.”

Charles stared at him for a moment before nodding. “If anyone could detect that, it would be you. Have at it, but please be able to put them back where they are should I try again and they not work.”

“Don't worry, Charles,” Erik said as he allowed the magnetic fields to lift him from the ground. “I won't break it.”

Charles watched as metal panels went flying back and forth around the room, disassembling and rearranging in different spots. Erik let himself come back to the bridge and looked at Charles, smiling. 

“Now try it.”

“Alright,” Charles said, putting the helmet back on and allowing the mental connection to develop. Once the connection was set back up, Charles was surprised to immediately zero in on Raven. “Raven.”

Erik looked up as a vision of her walking through a busy airport appeared in front of Charles. “Can you talk to her through this?”

“Yes,” Charles said, “but I'm not going to. She seems to be on a mission at the moment. She's headed to D.C. according to the plane ticket in her hand. Probably off to see what she can find out about this Pentagon program.”

“Will you talk to her soon?”

“Probably,” Charles said. “I'd prefer to do it while she's alone. One night, after you...” he trailed off for a moment. “I'll find her when she's alone and talk to her.”

“She may not want to speak to you.”

“I know that,” Charles said, closing his eyes and breaking the connection again. Once the helmet was off, he turned to Erik and sighed. “It wouldn't be the first time she refused to speak to me. It probably won't be the last either.”

“How's your head?” Erik asked.

“Headache is gone,” Charles said. “I don't know what you did, but it worked. And now I'm going to have to give Hank all the credit for that, you know.”

Erik laughed. “I know. It's okay. Our little secret.”

“Yes, another one for us to be keepers of,” Charles said, wheeling past Erik and towards the door, which was opening. “We should go upstairs before anyone realizes that we can't be found. I believe Peter has just begun making everyone breakfast.”

“He's surprisingly good at that,” Erik said, following Charles out of Cerebro. “Better than I am.”

“Certainly better than I am,” Charles said, heading toward the elevator. “Oh, that reminds me, I need to hire a cook for the school. Definitely need someone else to do the cooking and the shopping. Make me write that down later, will you?”

Erik laughed. “I'll try, Charles.”


	13. day thirteen.

Charles sighed as Erik's arms circled tight around his waist, the sensation of standing on his lifeless legs a strange one. It didn't matter though, not when Erik's lips caught his in a deep kiss as he pulled them underneath the warm shower spray. He'd missed this; god, how he'd missed this. One of his favorite things to do with Erik was to take a shower.

They broke apart as water started running into their eyes, Erik laughing as he threw his head back and shook it. Charles leaned forward and nipped at Erik's collarbone, drawing a low moan from Erik's mouth. 

“Someone is happy to see me,” Charles said, squeezing a hand in between their bodies to wrap around Erik's hard cock. “Does someone want to play?”

“I thought we were taking a shower.”

“I need some distraction after seeing the news,” Charles murmured. “So distract me.”

Erik laughed and then brought his head back underneath the spray. “I've got an idea,” he said. “I'm not sure you'll go for it though.”

Charles looked up at him. “What?”

“I want to sit on that seat,” Erik said, pointing to the one Charles usually used for showers, “and then I want you to ride me. I understand that you can't move yourself up and down, but I can do that for you.”

Charles shuddered against him. “I'd never be able to take a shower without thinking about that again.”

“I know,” Erik said. “That's why I wasn't sure if you'd go for it.”

“Mmm,” Charles hummed. “I do so love it when you fuck up into me though. I miss that so much.”

Erik leaned forward and kissed Charles deeply. “It's entirely up to you.”

Charles nodded. “Just don't break my seat, okay? That's something I don't want to have to explain to anyone.”

Erik laughed and kissed him again. “I will be careful, I promise.”

Charles laughed as Erik moved them around until he was sitting down and Charles was straddling his lap. Charles reached over and grabbed a bottle of conditioner off the shelf, handing it to Erik. “Closest thing to lube I've got in the shower.”

Erik took the bottle and squeezed some out into his hand before tossing it to the side. He slicked up his fingers and then slid his hand between Charles's legs, reaching out for the right spot. Charles shuddered when he brushed against it, and Erik carefully slid one finger into him. 

Charles groaned loudly, his head coming forward to rest on Erik's shoulder. “Fuck, I love your fingers.”

Erik laughed at that and added a second finger, and then he took his time preparing Charles. When Charles was squirming against him, he crooked his fingers in the right direction to get Charles to call out, his whole body convulsing with pleasure. While Charles was feeling that, Erik used the rest of the conditioner to slick up his dick, and he positioned it against Charles's hole. “Ready?”

“Fuck me goddamnit,” Charles ordered, and Erik laughed again. 

“Someone's impatient.”

“Someone has indecent fingers.”

“You love my fingers,” Erik said as he lifted Charles up and slowly pressed into him. “You just said so.”

By the time Erik was completely inside him, Charles couldn't form words to come up with a response. He just bit into Erik's shoulder as Erik started moving him up and down. He'd missed this, god how he'd missed this, and it didn't matter that they'd had tons of sex since Erik had walked back into the mansion, but they hadn't done this position, and this was one of Charles's favorites even though he couldn't do it properly anymore and... “Holy fuck, Erik!”

Erik just laughed and kept pounding away at that spot, loving every second of watching Charles become a complete and total mess from the over-stimulation of his prostate. When he felt himself close, he sank deep inside Charles and stopped their movement, reaching around with one hand to jerk Charles's cock hard. “Come for me, Charles.”

Charles let out a litany of curse words as he came, slumping down against Erik once all the waves of completion had gone away. Erik brushed a kiss against Charles's temple and put his hands back on Charles's waist, holding him up and fucking into him, hard and fast, making Charles whine and wriggle, until he felt himself hit his climax, spilling himself deep inside Charles. 

When Erik felt like he could breathe again, his eyes opened to find Charles staring at him, and he smiled. “Good?”

“Amazing,” Charles said, leaning forward for a deep, passionate kiss. “But now I need you to be okay to stand and hold me up so we can get back underneath the water and clean up.”

Erik laughed. “It'll be a few minutes.”

Charles grinned. “I love the fact that I can do that to you. Make you so you can't even stand.”

Charles rested his forehead against Erik's and they both laughed. “Did I distract you enough?” Erik asked.

The smile slipped from Charles's face. “The news said they had her cornered today, Erik. And then I couldn't find her on Cerebro.”

“Mystique knows how to take care of herself,” Erik said seriously, looking into Charles's eyes. “She got out of the situation, or they would have been proclaiming her arrest. Just because you couldn't find her on Cerebro for the very brief amount of time Hank let you look doesn't mean that they got her. It just means you weren't in there long enough to find her.”

“Hank is concerned about me getting the headaches again,” Charles murmured. “I can't exactly tell him that you fixed that problem. And you're probably right about Raven, I just...I worry about her, Erik. A lot.”

“I know you do,” Erik said, running his hands through Charles's hair. “But she knows how to take care of herself.” 

“You'll be on the lookout for her?”

“Of course,” Erik soothed. “And I am far more likely to run into her than you will be here. I know you want her to come home, Charles. But she's not going to.”

“When you see her,” Charles started, pausing a moment to take a deep breath. “Tell her I miss her?”

“I will, I promise,” Erik said, pulling Charles into another kiss. “And I don't want you to freak out if you can't find me when you're in Cerebro too. I've probably just got the helmet on. If anything happens to me, I'll make sure that there's some way you find out.”

“Don't talk about something happening to you,” Charles begged. “I can't, Erik. I can't even think about it.”

“Promise me you won't freak out when you can't find me.”

Charles stared at him for a few moments before sighing. “I promise. Helmet. Got it.”

“I'm coming home one day, Charles. It's going to take an act of God to keep me from fulfilling that promise, and even then God and I are going to have to have a serious conversation.”

Charles laughed and shook his head. “You say the most ridiculous things sometimes.”

“Look into my mind and tell me I don't mean it.”

“I don't need to look into your mind to know that you mean it,” Charles said, letting his mind brush against Erik's anyway. “You'll always be welcome here. Even if the only person in this house that thinks you should be welcome is me, you'll always be welcome.”

“I think Peter might have something to say on the subject as well,” Erik said, sighing. “I still cannot believe I have a son.”

“Well, you do,” Charles said, bending down to kiss Erik softly. “And I will take care of him.”

“I know you will, or I wouldn't leave him here,” Erik said, smiling softly. “Ready to try standing?”

“I think I should be asking you that question,” Charles said, nodding. “I'm ready when you are.”


	14. day fourteen.

“Five new students enrolled today,” Charles said, a smile on his face as he wheeled himself into his room to find Erik sitting there. “That brings the total up to seventeen. Well, eighteen if you count Peter. Now I need to find so—” 

“I have to leave.” Erik knew he cut Charles off and he knew that he was being cowardly by refusing to turn and look at Charles now, but he wasn't sure he could make it through this if he was looking into those beautiful blue eyes. 

“Erik,” Charles breathed out, his voice barely above a whisper. 

“I know I promised you a few days, but it's been a few days Charles, and I have to leave.”

“Close the door.” The door swung shut behind Charles, and the lock slid into place while Charles closed his eyes and soundproofed the room. “Erik...”

Charles trailed off but everything he was trying to say was in that one word. His voice was full of heartbreak, stinging, deep heartache, regret for the way things had to be, and longing for the way they could never be.

“What did you soundproof it with?”

“Handel's _Water Music_.” Charles could barely speak. “Erik.”

“Nice choice.”

“Erik, can you not even look at me?”

“Please don't make this harder than it already is,” Erik said, his voice betraying his determination to get through this. “I thought leaving you four months ago was hard, but it's nothing compared to this.”

Charles wheeled himself closer to the bed, then maneuvered himself out of the wheelchair and onto the bed. “Lay down with me?”

Erik finally turned and looked at him, and Charles offered up a shaky smile to the look of absolute devastation on Erik's face. “Please, Erik. At least give us this.”

Erik nodded and moved them both around until they were laying properly on the bed, face to face, hands intertwined between their bodies. Erik's eyes were shiny with unshed tears, and Charles's chest was so tight that he was surprised he could breathe. 

“Charles,” Erik started, but he found himself incapable of finishing. He just couldn't say what he knew he had to.

“Erik.” Charles let his free hand come up and caress the side of Erik's face before sliding down the back of his neck and pulling Erik to him. Their lips met softly, but the kiss developed quickly and soon it had fully encompassed them both. 

Erik shoved Charles onto his back and climbed on top of him, refusing to break the kiss even when he started to feel dizzy from the lack of air. Charles eventually forced them apart, gasping desperately for air until he felt like he could breathe again, then bringing their lips back together. Erik's hands ran down Charles's sides, making him shudder beneath him. Charles's hands started to slide underneath Erik's shirt, and suddenly Erik abruptly pulled away, rolling onto his back next to Charles and shaking his head.

“We can't do this. It'll make it worse.”

Charles, still finding it hard to breathe, reached out and grabbed Erik's hand. “Erik, please. I saw the news tonight. They think you're in Montana.”

“Exactly. That's why I have to leave now. I can get to where I need to go before anyone realizes I'm on the east coast.” 

“What about Peter?” Charles asked, and when Erik inhaled sharply, he knew he'd touched on a sensitive spot. “Can't you give him a little more time with his father?”

“I'd give Peter all the time in the world if I could,” Erik said after a few moments. “But there's just not time right now. Time is very limited.”

Charles squeezed Erik's hand. “He has a lot of questions for you about Magda. He hasn't had a chance to have them answered yet.”

“I figured he probably did,” Erik murmured. “I'm surprised he hasn't bombarded me with them.”

“You should give him a chance to ask them,” Charles said. “He's not going to take your leaving well. He's rather fond of you.”

Erik sucked in a deep breath. “I don't want to leave him, Charles. But I have to. And I have to leave you too, no matter how much I'd like to stay.”

Charles shifted around as best he could until his head was on Erik's shoulder. “A few more days, Erik. Please.”

“I can't,” Erik said, shaking his head. “Charles, you know if I could stay that I would. But if we don't want me getting caught, then I have to leave now.”

“How long?”

“How long what?”

“How long until I see you again?”

Erik sighed heavily. “I don't know. I don't know how things are going to go. It could be a few months; it could be a few years. I honestly cannot answer that question, Charles.”

“A few years?” Every bit of longing Charles felt was in his voice. “Erik, I can't go years without seeing you again.” 

“I told you, I don't know Charles,” Erik said, bringing their tangled hands up to rest on his chest. “If I could stay, I would stay. But we both know that I can't stay.”

Charles took a deep breath and tried to steady his voice. “Not even if I ask you to be by my side?”

“Charles.”

“I'm sorry,” Charles said, tears welling up in his eyes. “I just, I don't want you to go, Erik.”

“I know,” Erik said, turning his head towards Charles and brushing his lips along his hairline. “But I can't.”

“You're safe here.”

“No, you're safe here. Peter is safe here. The moment anyone sees me here, no one is safe here. I'm almost surprised that Hank and Alex haven't tried to hand me over to the FBI.”

“I threatened them a lot when I got wind of that idea,” Charles said seriously. “And I mean _a lot_.”

“I should have known,” Erik chuckled. “But that's all the more reason that I have to go.”

“Can I make a request?” Charles asked.

“Of course.”

“Can you do it like you did last time?” Charles asked, his voice small. “Let me go to bed with you and wake up alone.”

“Charles.”

“Please, Erik. I can't watch you walk out of the door.”

Erik brushed another kiss along Charles's forehead. “Okay, we can do it that way.”

“Help me out of these clothes and under the linens?” Charles asked.

Erik nodded and helped Charles out of his shirt and pants, tucking him in beneath the linens and making sure that his wheelchair was close enough to the bed. Then he laid down on top of the linens and let Charles slide up along his side, resting his head on Erik's chest. 

Erik brushed a kiss along the top of Charles's head. “Goodnight, Charles.”

“Goodnight, Erik,” Charles murmured, blinking away the tears. “I'll see you in the morning.”

Erik just nodded. It wasn't long until Charles was asleep, and Erik carefully extracted himself from Charles's clutches and got off the bed. He glanced around the room one last time, spotting a cardigan hanging over the back of a chair. He walked over to the chair and picked it up, bringing it to his nose and inhaling, grinning when his senses filled with Charles's familiar scent. Glancing over at the bed one last time, he took the cardigan with him and walked out of the room.

He went into his own room and undid his suitcase, putting the cardigan inside it and pulling out one of his favorite shirts. He dug through his stuff until he found his cologne, and then dabbed some of it all over the shirt until he was certain it smelled like him. He closed the suitcase and went back into Charles's room, hanging the shirt where the cardigan had been. 

He stood there and looked at Charles for a few moments before walking out of the room, carefully shutting the door behind him. He walked over to the staircase and then down into the entry, taking a deep breath when he saw Peter leaning against the door.

“Peter.”

“Erik.”

Erik sighed. “It's time for me to leave.”

“I know,” Peter said, pushing away from the door. “Were you even going to say goodbye?”

“I find it much easier to slip out unnoticed,” Erik said, walking over to him. “I don't mean any offense by it.”

“Yeah, well, I haven't had a father for sixteen years, so you're just going to have to put up with the fact that I expect you to say goodbye to me,” Peter said, lunging forward and hugging Erik tight. “You better be back soon, or else Charles is going to be really sad for a really long time, and I'll have no choice but to be really sad along with him.”

Erik forced out a laugh as Peter pulled back, but he found himself nodding. “I will be back as soon as I can. I promise. And I take promises very seriously.”

“I'm going to hold you to that.”

“I know,” Erik said, walking around Peter and opening the door. “Oh, and Peter?”

“Yeah?”

“Go easy on Charles for awhile,” Erik said, putting his hat on. “Just, be nice to him for me.”

“Don't worry,” Peter said, smiling. “I'll look after him. I promise. And I take promises very seriously too.”

Erik smiled at him, then turned towards the open door. “Don't try to find me. I'll be back when I'm able to.”

“Alright.”

“Goodbye, Peter.”

“Quicksilver.”

Erik paused, confused. “What?”

“You're Magneto. I want to be Quicksilver.” Peter was grinning from ear to ear, and Erik couldn't help but smile back at him.

“Then goodbye Quicksilver,” Erik murmured.

“Goodbye, Magneto.”

Erik stepped out of the house and made the door swing shut behind him. He took a moment to lock it, and then looked back at the mansion. There wasn't any doubt in his mind anymore. This place was home.

And one of these days, he would quit running away from it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to everyone who has let me know what they thought, either by comment or kudos, and thanks as well to everyone who followed along, but as lurkers.

**Author's Note:**

> So I self-published a book! It's a YA fantasy story and if you want to get it (it's cheap!) then [go here!](http://www.amazon.com/Aetherion-Rising-Adelia-Chamberlain-ebook/dp/B00FUT7UF4/) Do you want to read the first two parts free? [Go here!](https://www.wattpad.com/story/44126937-aetherion-rising/parts)


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